UNCW Opens CAA Women's Basketball Championship With 60-47 Win Over Charleston
Rob Washburn
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ELON, N.C. (March 10, 2021) – Behind double-doubles from Taylor Webster and Carol-Anne Obusek, ninth-seeded UNCW defeated #8 Charleston, 60-47, in the first round of the 2021 CAA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Sonabank on Wednesday afternoon at Schar Center.
The Seahawks (7-13), who won for the fourth time in the past five games, advance to face top-seeded Delaware at 2:30 p.m. in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Charleston dropped to 6-9 with the loss.
Webster matched her career-high with 17 points and grabbed a team-best 13 rebounds, while Obusek recorded her team-best 12
th double-double with 11 points and 12 boards. Dazia Powell nearly joined the double-double club with 14 points and nine caroms.
Freshman Amira Williams paced Charleston with 11 points, hitting 3-of-6 from three-point range, and added six rebounds. Chelsea Wooten chipped in nine points.
UNCW got out to a 5-0 lead and never trailed in the contest. Down by nine early in the second quarter, Charleston put together a 9-2 run capped by a Williams trey to pull within 20-18 with 2:29 left. However, UNCW closed the half on a 7-0 run, with all of the points coming from Webster, to take a 27-18 advantage into halftime.
The Cougars cut the deficit to six early in the third quarter, but UNCW slowly pulled away and led 46-34 after three periods. The Seahawks maintained control of the final 10 minutes, never letting Charleston get closer than 10.
UNCW shot 41.5% from the floor and out-scored Charleston 40-14 in the paint. Defensively, the Seahawks held the Cougars to 23.9% FG shooting, including 7-of-35 from 3-point range. UNCW also dominated the boards, out-rebounding Charleston 52-36.
Gallery: (3-10-2021) 2021 MBB Champ: Game 1 CofC vs UNCW