PENSACOLA, Fla. | The University of Alabama in Huntsville women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 65-58 victory on the road Wednesday, opening up Gulf South Conference action with a win at West Florida. UAH improves to 4-1 (1-0 GSC), while UWF slips to 2-3 (0-1 GSC).
 
West Florida was picked to finish second in the GSC in the preseason by the coaches.
 
Four players scored in double figures for UAH in the win led by Dina Saunders and Chandler Elder who both scored 15, while Loren Forster and Halle Jarnagin added 11.
 
Jarnagin notched her second double-double of the season as she also grabbed a team-best 13 rebounds.
 
After holding a strong 41-29 lead at the half, UAH withstood a strong second-half punch from West Florida that saw the Argos erase their deficit and take a lead at 58-56 with just 1:35 left in the game.
 
Foster, however, had an answer as she buried her second triple of the game, and after the Chargers forced a turnover on the ensuing possession, Elder made a layup fall to give UAH a 61-58 advantage with just under a minute left in the contest.
 
UAH added four free throws in the waning moments while also creating two more turnovers by the hosts to seal the win.
 
The Chargers led 25-21 at the end of the first quarter, and after UWF closed the gap to 25-23 just inside the start of the second stanza, UAH proceeded to outscore the Argos 16-8 over the rest of the period to grab a 12-point lead by the halftime break.
 
In that strong opening half, UAH shot 60.0 percent overall from the field, and the team connected on seven of its 11 3-point attempts in the half to shoot 63.6 percent from downtown.
 
For the game, UAH shot 44.0 percent and added four more triples to finish the night with a 3-point field goal mark of 52.4 percent, and the Chargers were also strong defensively as West Florida hit just 35.0 percent from the floor and was only 4-for-15 on 3s.
 
UWF was led by Jasmine Wigfall who scored 18.
 
UAH's performance was especially impressive as the team overcame 21 turnovers, and the team was actually able to outscore UWF on points off turnovers, scoring 19 on the 12 turnovers by the Argos.
 
UAH will return to action and continue conference play on the road on Saturday as the Chargers travel to Valdosta State. Tip-off in the Peach State is slated for 1 p.m. CST.