ASHEVILLE, N.C.?The UNC Asheville women's basketball team will wrap up non-conference play at 7 p.m. on Tuesday as it hosts USC Upstate at the Justice Center. The game can be heard live on AM-1310 WISE and can be seen via video stream for a small fee at uncabulldogs.com and bigsouthsports.com.
Asheville enters Tuesday's game with an 8-8 record after a 68-64 victory at Presbyterian on Saturday afternoon. Head Coach Betsy Blose is looking to move into sole possession of ninth place on the Big South all-time wins list and will be looking for career victory 199.
The Bulldogs leading scorer Ashton Barton sat out Saturday's game against PC but is hopeful to play on Tuesday. She is averaging 12.7 points per game. In Barton's absence, Jessica Monroe recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and a career-best 10 rebounds against the Blue Hose. Monroe is second on the team averaging 9.8 points per game. Chioma Okoli is third on the team at 8.5 points per outing and has scored in double figures in each of the last three games.
USC Upstate is 4-8 on the season having lost its last two games to Radford and ETSU. The Spartans have a win over Charleston Southern this season for a 1-1 record against Big South Opponents. Upstate will be without its leading scorer Oceana Jackson who led the team at 13 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Courtney Hawkins is second on the team at 12.5 points per game. The Spartans are averaging 57 points per game on the season and are being out rebounded by 9.2 boards per game.
Tuesday night marks the first official game between UNC Asheville and USC Upstate in 23 years. The Bulldogs defeated what was then USC Spartanburg twice during the 1984-85 season while both schools were NAIA. The two teams have played in exhibition games in Asheville each of the last two seasons. The Bulldogs won both exhibitions 72-40 in 2005 and 90-79 in 2006.
Asheville senior Stacy Shepard will be honored prior to tip-off as she reached the 600 rebound milestone on the Bulldog's last road trip. She enters the game with 618 career rebounds, five shy of sixth place all-time and fourth place during the Division I era.
