University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Different Feel for Bulldogs Entering This Year’s NCAA Tournament
03.16.2017 | Women's Basketball
Bulldog Women Set to Play South Carolina in NCAA Tournament (notes and more)
Asheville-South Carolina Game Notes (PDF)
2017 WBB Postseason Guide
Thursday Press Conference (Video/YouTube)
Thursday Photo Gallery (Facebook)
COLUMBIA, S.C. - This year is different.
Coming off last year's Big South Tournament championship, senior center KJ Weaver feels the Bulldogs did not know what to expect in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
"The fact that we got a 14-seed was amazing," Weaver said. "We were just enjoying the ride. We know a lot of people were nervous, and we kind of showed it on the court."
This year, Weaver believes the 2017 Big South Tournament-champion Bulldogs even as a 16-seed are taking things differently because they've been there before.
"For this year, I think that since is the second year we're going in a row, we were expecting to win the Big South championship, but nobody else probably thought we could have done it," Weaver said. "This year we're coming in as a 16-seed against a number one-seed. So I think this gives us an opportunity to not be so swayed by everything going on around us, giving us an opportunity to show the world that we can focus on what we're doing and improve on what we're doing no matter who we're playing against."
Like her senior standout, UNC Asheville women's basketball head coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick knows that she has a group that is battle-tested and knows how to respond. In fact, Kirkpatrick can even pinpoint the moment things changed in what has been an injury-riddled season.
"If I could point to one thing, it's (senior guard) Chatori Major deciding to expand her role from a scoring player to a leader on and off the court. After our Charleston Southern loss, I spoke to the team and was pretty forward after that game. She spoke to her teammates and said 'This is not the way this season is going to go.' She was very determined. She stepped up in that moment, and I couldn't be more grateful for her. It changed the trajectory of our season. That would be the lead moment. In terms of the basketball piece, it did take us a little bit to adjust to the new lineup that we had. We had to reframe things. We needed to reset our goals, and we knew that what we had was enough."
The Bulldogs play of late has definitely caught the attention of South Carolina.
"They play hard," South Carolina junior guard Kaela Davis said. "They are caught in a similar situation as we are in that they lost some starters due to injury, but they were the seven seed in their tournament and beat the number 1 seed in their conference to win the championship so they have a ton of confidence. They're just a team that plays really, really hard no matter who's in front of them. They share the ball well, they work on finishing the ball well and they try to turn and pivot when they go to the rim. They're scrappy players and smart players, so it's just something we have to be ready for."
Davis' head coach agrees with her star junior and she has been particularly impressed with what Kirkpatrick has been able to accomplish during her time at UNC Asheville.
"They're a very well-coached basketball team," Staley said. "They like ball screen action and they get to the rim. They get the ball in the paint. Something I see that their guards do a lot is that they like to get to two feet and step through and force your defense to be disciplined and that's something that's probably a little different than what we've seen. So I'm looking forward to our players being able to accept that challenge to be disciplined on the defensive side of the ball."
Asheville-South Carolina Game Notes (PDF)
2017 WBB Postseason Guide
Thursday Press Conference (Video/YouTube)
Thursday Photo Gallery (Facebook)
COLUMBIA, S.C. - This year is different.
Coming off last year's Big South Tournament championship, senior center KJ Weaver feels the Bulldogs did not know what to expect in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
"The fact that we got a 14-seed was amazing," Weaver said. "We were just enjoying the ride. We know a lot of people were nervous, and we kind of showed it on the court."
This year, Weaver believes the 2017 Big South Tournament-champion Bulldogs even as a 16-seed are taking things differently because they've been there before.
"For this year, I think that since is the second year we're going in a row, we were expecting to win the Big South championship, but nobody else probably thought we could have done it," Weaver said. "This year we're coming in as a 16-seed against a number one-seed. So I think this gives us an opportunity to not be so swayed by everything going on around us, giving us an opportunity to show the world that we can focus on what we're doing and improve on what we're doing no matter who we're playing against."
Like her senior standout, UNC Asheville women's basketball head coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick knows that she has a group that is battle-tested and knows how to respond. In fact, Kirkpatrick can even pinpoint the moment things changed in what has been an injury-riddled season.
"If I could point to one thing, it's (senior guard) Chatori Major deciding to expand her role from a scoring player to a leader on and off the court. After our Charleston Southern loss, I spoke to the team and was pretty forward after that game. She spoke to her teammates and said 'This is not the way this season is going to go.' She was very determined. She stepped up in that moment, and I couldn't be more grateful for her. It changed the trajectory of our season. That would be the lead moment. In terms of the basketball piece, it did take us a little bit to adjust to the new lineup that we had. We had to reframe things. We needed to reset our goals, and we knew that what we had was enough."
The Bulldogs play of late has definitely caught the attention of South Carolina.
"They play hard," South Carolina junior guard Kaela Davis said. "They are caught in a similar situation as we are in that they lost some starters due to injury, but they were the seven seed in their tournament and beat the number 1 seed in their conference to win the championship so they have a ton of confidence. They're just a team that plays really, really hard no matter who's in front of them. They share the ball well, they work on finishing the ball well and they try to turn and pivot when they go to the rim. They're scrappy players and smart players, so it's just something we have to be ready for."
Davis' head coach agrees with her star junior and she has been particularly impressed with what Kirkpatrick has been able to accomplish during her time at UNC Asheville.
"They're a very well-coached basketball team," Staley said. "They like ball screen action and they get to the rim. They get the ball in the paint. Something I see that their guards do a lot is that they like to get to two feet and step through and force your defense to be disciplined and that's something that's probably a little different than what we've seen. So I'm looking forward to our players being able to accept that challenge to be disciplined on the defensive side of the ball."
Players Mentioned
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