PENSACOLA, Fla. –
Zoe Piller made a turnaround basket with 1.1 seconds left to lift the UWF women's basketball team to a 80-78 win over Montevallo at the UWF Field House on Monday night.
Piller finished with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 10 rebounds as UWF (10-1, 5-0 Gulf South) won its tenth-consecutive game, tying the second-longest streak in program history. The 5-0 start to conference play matches the 1998-99 and 2005-06 squads as the best in school history.
UWF shot 47 percent and controlled the glass to the tune of a 46-36 margin.
Jaclyn Jarnot dominated on the boards, grabbing 20 rebounds – 19 on defense – to go along with 17 points for her league-leading ninth double-double, which also ranks third nationally.
Maddie Griffon went for double figures for the third time in the last four games, scoring 17 with a career-high eight assists from her point guard spot.
"We were still getting a lot of good looks late in the game but we just weren't making them," UWF head coach
Stephanie Lawrence Yelton said. "And then they were able to come down and score and that's when the lead wilted down.
"But then we got into that last play situation where Zoe was able to make a play. She really made a lot out of a little and we were able to hold on."
The Argonauts needed the freshman's heroics after leading by as many as 14 points midway through the third quarter. UWF had just used a 10-0 run to extend a 44-40 margin early in the third.
But Montevallo battled back and got within five just over a minute into the fourth. Kiya Sain made a driving layup and then backed in a 3-pointer from the left wing to tie it at 78 with 19.9 remaining.
Montevallo (5-8, 1-4) dropped its fourth-straight conference contest despite shooting 40 percent from the floor for just the fifth time this season. After shooting just 22 percent in the opening period, the Falcons converted on 46 percent of their attempts in the final 30 minutes. Marisa Snodgrass led the Falcons with 18 points and a game-high four 3-pointers.
UWF will return to play on New Year's Eve when it travels to Livingston, Alabama for a 4 p.m. contest at West Alabama (9-3, 3-1).
