VALDOSTA, Ga. – Jaclyn Jarnot and Zoe Piller had 13 points apiece, while Moriah Taylor made three 3-pointers to help push the UWF women's basketball team to a 58-49 win over Valdosta State on Saturday.
 
UWF (17-6, 16-4 Gulf South) overcame a tough first half against the league's top defense and outscored VSU 34-24 after halftime while shooting 43 percent and 5-of-11 from outside.
 
The Argonauts made clutch shots in the fourth quarter, closing the contest on a 16-7 run.
 
After VSU tied the game at 42 with 5:50 left, the Argonauts hit a pair of 3-pointers and got two free throws as part of an 8-1 run that saw them regain a 50-43 lead with 2:20 to play. From there, UWF made 4-of-6 free throws and two layups to close out their first win at the VSU Complex in their last four tries. It also snapped a 3-game losing skid to the Lady Blazers.
 
"(VSU) has the number one defense in the league so we knew we were going to have to work hard to execute well and sometimes you just have to make plays," UWF head coach Stephanie Lawrence Yelton said. "In the second half we started hunting for shots and just played tougher and harder."
 
Piller continued to dominate at both ends of the floor, putting up her sixth-consecutive double-double with 13 rebounds to go with her scoring which came on 4-of-7 shooting. Taylor's output reached 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from outside.
 
Valdosta State (17-5, 16-4) was held to its second lowest scoring output of the season and shot just 32 percent, tied for the lowest. Tamiya Francis led the Lady Blazers with 16 points off the bench.
 
The Argos won the rebounding battle 41-34 after the Lady Blazers grabbed the first five in the contest.
 
UWF also clinched a quarterfinal home game in the upcoming GSC Championship on Tuesday, Feb. 28. The semifinals and finals will then be played at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Alabama, March 4-5.
 
UWF will return home to play host to Auburn Montgomery (7-18, 6-15) on Thursday night at the UWF Field House. Tip-off for the annual Play 4 Kay game presented by Baptist Oncology is at 5:30 p.m.