BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –
Halee Nieman and
Shami Goodman combined for 34 points and four 3-pointers to lift sixth-seeded West Florida past seventh-seeded West Alabama, 61-46, in the semifinals of the Gulf South Conference Tournament, presented by VisitSpaceCoast.com at the Pete Hanna Center on Saturday.
Nieman led all players with 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting and 8-of-11 at the free throw line. She had 10 in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter. Goodman finished with 16 points and a game-high four assists.
UWF (18-11) advanced into the championship for the fourth time overall and third time in the last five years. The Argonauts will face top-seeded and 14th-ranked Union (27-3) on Sunday afternoon. The game will start at 12:30 p.m. and be streamed online at ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN app.
After scoring the game's first four points, the Argonauts went cold and fell behind 7-4. UWA maintained the lead throughout the first half, taking a 24-21 margin into the locker room. UWF struggled to get its offense going as four players were saddled with two fouls for much of the half.
But the offense got going in the third. Two buckets in the first minute from
Courtney Meyer and
Shaniqua Magee gave the Argos their first lead since the third minute of the game. A few minutes later, UWF went on a 12-0 run to grab a 41-31 advantage.
The Tigers trimmed the deficit to eight points 90 seconds into the fourth before the Argos got a three from Nieman and a offensive putback from Goodman to halt any ideas of a comeback.
UWF shot 41 percent in the game, with a 54 percent effort in the second half. Their defense was equally as impressive, limiting UWA (14-15) to 33 percent overall and 30 percent after halftime.
Tazsa Garrett-Hammett had 18 points to lead the Tigers. Elaine Field added 15 points and seven rebounds.
The loss avenged a 83-72 setback in Pensacola in December, in which the Argonauts battled severe foul trouble in the second half that allowed the Tigers to hold a 32-9 scoring edge in the fourth quarter.
