ASHEVILLE, N.C.?With on week left in the regular season, UNC Asheville's women's basketball team travels to league-leading Liberty on Saturday night. The Bulldogs will continue to Radford for a Monday night contest that will go a long way towards seeding in the upcoming Big South Tournament.
Liberty (18-7, 12-0 Big South) has already wrapped up the regular season title and will be the top seed in the tournament. The Flames have won the Big South title 11 of the last 12 years.
The rest of the standings are not so easy to figure out. Second place High Point leads seventh place Coastal Carolina by just a game and half. UNC Asheville (10-16, 7-6) and Radford (8-16, 7-6) are both tied for third place just a half game behind High Point. Gardner-Webb and Winthrop are only a game ahead of Coastal Carolina.
“I am not sure I have ever seen six teams so tight in the standings,” said Asheville head coach Betsy Blose. “We might have the toughest remaining schedule with our last three games on the road but we know that we have an opportunity to finish second and that means guarantee of playing on after the Big South Tournament. So there is a lot to play for and we are going into this weekend with a sense of urgency.”
Asheville has been led all season by senior guard Ana Baker who has five 20 point games this season. Only two other players in the Big South have scored 20 or more points more frequently. Charleston Southern's Pam Tolbert has scored 20 eight times and Liberty's Megan Frazee, nine times. Baker is averaging 13 points per game which is third in the conference. She leads the league in assist to turnover ratio and is second in steals and assists.
The Bulldogs have been getting solid contribution from their post players over the last couple of weeks. Lindsey Montgomery has three double-double in her last five games and Jessica Monroe had a 13 point, seven rebound game in a win over High Point last Saturday.
Liberty enters Saturday's game riding a 15 game winning streak and are undefeated in Big South play. Five-time Big South Player of the Week Megan Frazee is averaging 19.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. She leads the conference in both of those categories. She is shooting 53 percent from the floor and 76 percent from the line. Moriah Frazee is averaging 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Liberty leads the Big South is scoring defense, scoring margin, field goal percentage, FG percentage defense, three point percentage, and rebounding.
The Flames have dominated the series with a 37-7 all-time record against the Bulldogs. Asheville's last win in the series came 54-51 on Feb. 24, 2007 in Lynchburg. The Bulldogs are 1-27 against the Flames since 1997.
Saturday's 7 p.m. game can be seen live on the Big South Edge at www.bigsouthsports.com for a small fee.
