JD Byars, the voice of the Lions, informed Coach Terry Fowler in a post-game radio interview Saturday that he now has a target on his back because his girls are No. 1 in GSC East.

After a thrilling game with the Lions only being up by a point at halftime (25-24) and having 19 turnovers on the books, the UNA women realized that a change in momentum had to occur to secure a victory in the second half.

“We go into halftime with three starters having not played double digit minutes, up by one point, and 19 turnovers,” said Fowler. “In the second half, we were feeling good about bringing our starters back, and cutting down the turnovers-and we did that.”

“West Alabama made us feel rushed,” said player Niala Harris. “We had to play their fast-paced game, but I really thought we just needed to calm down and get back to our game, quit worrying about how they play ball and worry about how we do.”

Fowler said one of the team’s goals going into the game was that they wanted to contest every shot, minimize the fouling and turnovers and dominate in the glass with rebounding.

“We can’t turn the ball over 29 times in a game and expect to beat good teams, but Saturday was just one of those days where it happened,” said Fowler. “We shot the ball well in the second half and had a great team effort. Everyone stepped up and made big shots today.”

Harris said there were several teammates that she felt had a crucial impact in the game.

“Quoyah [Sequoyah Cliff] is a great shooter, and she stepped it up big time when she hit several threes in the game, which changed the pace and gave us some confidence,” said Harris. “Key [Kierra McCleary] doesn’t shoot a lot, even though she is a great shooter, but hit a three at a pivotal moment in the game, and changed the momentum in our favor.”

“We talked to our team yesterday about us pushing for first in the GSC East,” said Fowler. “It’s something that we worked for since last off season, and we are there now and have to own up to it, go out and play hard.”

UNA will host GSC East rivalry UAH today at 6 p.m. in Flowers Hall.