ASHEVILLE, N.C.?Although UNC Asheville women's basketball team finished its regular season on Friday, the Bulldogs had to wait until Monday night to learn it will play No. 2 seed High Point in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Championships which begin on Friday at High Point University.
The Bulldogs (10-19, 7-9 Big South) finished tied for sixth place with Gardner-Webb (15-14, 7-9 BSC). However, GWU wins the tiebreaker by virtue of a 2-0 record against the number four seed Winthrop. Gardner-Webb will face No. 3 seed Radford (10-17, 9-7 BSC) at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
High Point (14-15, 10-6 BSC), hosting the Big South Tournament for the first time, defeated top seed Liberty (21-8, 15-1 BSC) on Monday night to earn the number two seed. The Panthers and Bulldogs split the season series with each team winning on its home court. As tournament host, the Panthers will play the 7:30 p.m. game Friday night against Asheville.
Liberty had won 18 straight games before falling Monday night. The Flames had already wrapped up the top seed and will face No. 8 seed Charleston Southern (12-17, 6-10 BSC) in the opening game of the tournament Friday at Noon.
The 2 p.m. game will feature No. 4 seed Winthrop (15-14, 9-7 BSC) and No. 5 seed Coastal Carolina (16-13, 8-8 BSC).
UNC Asheville and High Point have met twice in Big South Tournament action. The first meeting was on a neutral floor in the semifinals of the 2005 tournament. Asheville defeated High Point 75-53 to earn as spot in the championship game. The next year, 2006, Asheville had to travel to High Point to play a quarterfinal contest. The Panthers came away with a 100-88 victory.
In the two games played this season. High Point took a 59-51 victory at Millis Center on Jan. 26. Ana Baker scored 12 points to lead the Bulldogs while Jessica Monroe and Linda Aughburns each scored 10 points. Aughburns had a career-high 15 rebounds in the game. Asheville took the second meeting 68-59 on Feb. 21. Baker led four Bulldogs in double-figures with 20 points. Monroe had 13 points while Lindsey Montgomery and Kendall Shepard both scored 11 points.
All four first round games will be played at the Millis Center on the campus of High Point University and all four games will be video streamed on the Big South Edge at bigsouthsports.com.
The semifinals will be played on Saturday at 2 and 4 p.m. with championship game on Sunday at 4 p.m. The semifinals and finals will be broadcast live on SportsSouth and MASN.
