McKinney Career Night Leads 49ers Past Gardner-Webb
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – KeKe McKinney posted a new career-high in rebounds as Charlotte scored a season-high 28 points in the fourth quarter leading to a 79-57 victory over Gardner-Webb in women’s basketball action on Friday night.
Four players scored in double digits for the second-straight game led by Octavia Jett-Wilson’s 22, Molina Williams dropped 12 of her 16 in the second half to help lead the Niners to a second-straight win.
KeKe McKinney posted her second-straight double-double setting a new career-high in rebounding while Jada McMillian did the same with double-digit assists.
“For us I think it’s pretty clear,” started Head Coach Cara Consuegra. “Offensively, we did a lot of great things tonight. I’m really excited about our 23 assists on 32 buckets, something we’ve been focusing on in practice on how to work together and share the ball. Defensively, we would have liked to play better. Definitely a credit to Gardner-Webb. We aren’t the same team today that beat Richmond because we’ve adjusted, changed and because of that, we’re going to grow and keep getting better. Our best basketball is still in front of us.”
After a 4-0 start by the visitors, an Octavia Jett-Wilson free throw and jumper by Molina Williams put the Niners on the board just over two minutes into Friday night.
Trailing by four nearly two minutes later, a layup by KeKe McKinney and corner three by Kameron Roach after solid ball movement led to an 8-7 lead at the first media timeout.
A Mikayla Boykin steal and lay in all alone pushed the lead out to 14-9 before another jumper by Jett-Wilson and layup by McKinney on another fast break closed out a 19-12 lead at the end of one.
Charlotte (3-4) quickly extended their seven-point lead out to 11 opening up the second on back-to-back layups by Boykin and Jett-Wilson. After the Bulldogs cut the lead back down to five, a 7-0 run over a minute of game action by the Niners pushed the lead back into double-digits.
Jett-Wilson nailed down four more points while Jacee Busick dropped in a long three for the 34-22 advantage.
McKinney yanked down 13 rebounds in the first half to set a new career-high over the first 20 minutes. Jada McMillian dished out eight assists while Jett-Wilson scored 14 on 50% shooting. Of the 34 points at the break, 20 came in the paint for Charlotte.
Gardner-Webb (2-5) made a late push in the third quarter to tighten things up after Charlotte extended their lead back out to 12 on back-to-back baskets from Williams and Boykin just 74 seconds into the period. After a three-point play was converted by Boykin, the Bulldogs made their late push trimming the Niners lead down to just one with 1:38 to go. A layup by McKinney at the 1:12 mark gave the Niners a slim three-point advantage heading to the final frame.
The Niners started their best period of the year with a pair of Williams free throws and layup by McKinney sliding the lead back to seven. Jett-Wilson scored the next four for the Niners before jumpers from Williams and Boykin sent the lead out to 63-53 at the halfway point of the fourth. The emphatic finish by the Niners included a whopping 12-0 run, 16-2 over the final 3:42, with four points apiece from Jett-Wilson and Williams to pull away for the 79-57 win.
Charlotte shot 50% or better in the final two quarters Friday night with Williams leading the charge scoring 12 of her 16 points. Overall, the Niners shot 50% or better in three of the four periods including 59% over the final 10 minutes going 10-of-17 from the floor and a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.
Jett-Wilson led all with 22 points on the night followed by Williams’ 16, Boykin’s 13 and McKinney’s double-double with 10 points and career-high 15 boards. McMillian dished out 13 assists to smash her previous career high of 10 becoming the first to hand out 13 in Conference USA since January of 2015. Specialty stats included the Niners dominating the paint with 44 points and scored 21 on the fast break, both setting new season highs.
Charlotte will head to West Virginia on Tuesday for their final non-conference road game facing the Mountaineers out of the Big 12. Tip time is set for 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+ Tuesday night.