University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Women's Basketball to Face Gardner-Webb on Saturday at 3 p.m.
01.28.2011 | Women's Basketball
Asheville (8-10, 1-5 BSC) is trying to snap out of a funk that has seen the Bulldogs lose six of their last seven games. Betsy Blose's club lost two frustrating home games last weekend where they led in the second half. Asheville fell to Winthrop, 71-64 on Saturday and then dropped a 76-66 decision to Longwood Monday evening.
"We're trying to get better and figure out a way to snap out of this funk," stated Blose. "I've challenged our team and our coaching staff to figure out a way to improve. We're close to being a good team but we've got to figure out away to finish out games and start winning them."
The Bulldogs will have their work cut out for them against defending Big South Conference regular-season champion Gardner-Webb. The Runnin' Bulldogs (13-6, 5-1 BSC) are just a half-game out of first place in the league standings.
"Gardner-Webb won the regular-season last year and lost the championship game by just two points to Liberty," said Blose. "They have a very good team and may even be better than last year's club. We're going to have to play well for 40 minutes on Saturday to have any chance at winning."
Senior guard Kendall Shepard leads Asheville in scoring with a 14.7 average. Lindsey Montgomery is next with a 13.3 average. Kelli Riles continues to have a great season as she's averaging 12.0 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.
Gardner-Webb is led by Monique Hudson with a 13.3 scoring average. Her sister, Dominique, is averaging 11.7 points per game. The Runnin' Bulldogs have won four straight and have not allowed any of those opponents to score more than 53 points.
"Gardner-Webb plays very good defense," declared Blose. "We're doing a better job of scoring this season but we're going to have to work hard to score on Saturday."
BULLDOG NOTES
Gardner-Webb defeated Asheville three times last year but the Bulldogs led in the second half of two of those games, including the quarterfinals of the Big South Conference Tournament. Asheville led by seven with eight minutes to go before the Runnin' Bulldogs rallied for a 77-65 win.
Asheville is 4-3 on the road this season and has won three of its last four road games.
Bulldog assistant coach Tiffany Gwynn played for Gardner-Webb head coach Rick Reeves when he was the head coach at Liberty. She was later an assistant for Reeves at both Liberty and Southern Mississippi.
Kelli Riles is ranked 13th nationally in rebounding with a 10.9 average.
