DAHLONEGA – The No. 9 University of North Georgia (UNG) blasted Georgia Southwestern (GSW) 76-50 on Wednesday night at Lynn Cottrell Arena at the UNG Convocation Center.

The win moved the Nighthawks to 23-2 (13-2 Peach Belt) on the season while the Hurricanes fell to 11-12 (7-8 Peach Belt). Wednesday's win was the fifth in a row and a timely one for UNG as the Nighthawks entered the day holding first place in the conference.

While UNG took down GSW, second-place Columbus State (CSU) lost 76-71 at home to Flagler, dropping the Cougars to 17-7 overall and 11-4 in conference play. 

This means that with a win at Augusta (17-7, 9-5 Peach Belt) on Saturday and a CSU loss against Lander, the Nighthawks will clinch the PBC Regular Season Championship for the fifth time in the Buffie Burson era.

A regular season title would be UNG's first since 2022 and the 11th conference title in Burson's 31 seasons.

Wednesday's win, similarly to Monday's which came just 48 hours earlier, was in large part thanks to the Nighthawk defensive performance against the top two scorers in the PBC.

Against graduate guard Destiny Garrett (18.8 points per game) and senior guard Ndidiamaka Ndukwe (18.1 points), UNG held both stars to below their season averages in scoring for the second consecutive game.

Ndukwe led the Hurricanes with 15 points while Garrett was limited to just eight in the 26-point loss. The dynamic duo was held to a combined 17-for-55 (30.9 percent) shooting from the floor in both matchups against the Nighthawks.

UNG also recorded 12 or more steals in a game for the fifth time this season Wednesday night. It forced an astonishing 22 GSW turnovers which led to 19 Nighthawk points in the win.

On offense the Nighthawks used a balance scoring attack to get past the Hurricanes for a second time. Four scorers reached double figures while six players scored nine or more points. The team also combined to go 21-for-22 at the free throw line. 21 makes is the third most in a game this season and at 95.5 percent, UNG recorded a new single-game record in free throw percentage. In the NCAA Division II era (2005), the Nighthawks have never made more than 11 free throws at a 95.5 percent rate.

Graduate forward Emily Trushel led the night with 16 points and six rebounds as she went 5-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-4 from three-point range.

Graduate guard Caroline Martin tied Trushel with a team-high 16 points while adding four rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal. Martin was aggressive on Wednesday, getting to the free throw line eight times where she made every attempt. 

Senior guard Ansley Hall had another double-digit night with 13 points while also posting a game-high nine assists. Hall has been one of the best passers in the country of late as she's recorded four straight games with six or more assists. She leads UNG with an average 4.7 assists per game this season but has posted an average of 5.7 assists in the last 10 games and 7.5 per night in the last four.

Hall was also the main catalyst on defense Wednesday as she snatched five steals to tie her career-high. 

Freshman guard Averie Jones was the final scorer in double figures as she reached 10 points for the 14th time this season. 

Sophomore forward Kendall Emener dropped nine points on 4-of-6 shooting in the win while also tying a career-high with three steals on defense.

Junior guard Jaleah Storr also chipped in nine points with five big rebounds off the bench.

UNG jumped out to an early lead and did not look back on Wednesday. An 11-0 run early in the game aided a 26-9 first quarter lead for the Nighthawks.

GSW scared UNG slightly in the second quarter with a 14-0 run to trail by just seven points with 2:27 to play in the first half. UNG answered with a 6-0 run of its own to close the half up 38-25.

The Hurricanes would never get closer than 16 points in the second half as the Nighthawks kept their foot on the pedal. UNG's largest lead of the night came with 5:29 in the fourth quarter after Martin knocked down a pair of free throws to put her team up by a whopping 33 points.

The 26-point, wire-to-wire victory marked UNG's ninth win by 20 or more points this season. Seven of those wins have come against conference foes and three of them have come in the last five days. The Nighthawks are out-scoring their opponents by an average of 19.4 points in their five-game win streak.

UNG will look to potentially clinch the PBC Regular Season Championship with a win at Augusta and a Columbus State loss to Lander on Saturday. Tip-off in Augusta, Ga. on Saturday, Feb. 22 begins at 1:30 p.m.