Women's Basketball Travels to Kennesaw State

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville women's basketball team hits the road for its next two games as the Bulldogs play at Kennesaw State Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. and then travel to South Carolina State on Monday starting at 6 p.m. Both games will be audio-streamed and can be heard on www.uncabulldogs.com.

Asheville (2-5) looks to snap a four-game losing streak at Kennesaw State (3-5) on Saturday. The Bulldogs have had the week off for exams after falling to Appalachian State a week ago (Dec. 10), 85-71 at Kimmel Arena.

There were a lot of bright spots in the game against ASU. The Apps are 7-1 on the season and winning games by an average margin of 20 points. Lindsey Thompson had 19 points for the Bulldogs, while freshman guards Brittany Gwyn and Shonese Jones chipped in 14 points each. Gwyn was making her Bulldog debut after missing the first part of the season with an injury. She had five assists and three steals against the Apps.

"We grew up a little bit against Appalachian State," stated Asheville coach Betsy Blose. "Our team did a nice job competing and battling against a very, very good team. We had too many turnovers early and didn't get defensive stops when we needed to get them but overall our effort was excellent. Hopefully, we can build on this game and improve."

The Bulldogs face a Kennesaw State team that is 3-5 on the season. The Lady Owls lost at Georgia State Wednesday night, 65-59. Taylor Mills leads the KSU attack with a 14.4 average.

Lindsey Thompson leads Asheville with a 13.0 scoring. The school's all-time three-point leader had 15 treys on the season. Kelli Riles continues to lead the nation in rebounding with a 13.3 mark. She's averaging 11.6 points per game and shooting .926 (25-of-27) from the free throw line. Freshman Leah Wormack is averaging 10.5 points per game.

"Kennesaw State is a good club and this will be a tough game for us on the road," commented Blose. "We'll need to have tremendous energy and effort for 40 minutes."

BULLDOG NOTES

Lindsey Thompson is Asheville's all-time leader in three-pointers made with 174. She's 10^th in the Big South scoring with her 13.0 average.

Kelli Riles grabbed her 500^th rebound against USC Upstate on Nov. 30. She has 527 career rebounds, making her the 12^th player in school history to collect 500 or more rebounds.

Junior guard Grace Blaylock has 15 field goals on the season with 14 of them being three-pointers. Her three-point shooting percentage is .359 and that's third best in the Big South Conference.

This is the just the second meeting between Kennesaw State and UNC Asheville. The teams met at the Mercer Invitational during the 2006-07 season with the Bulldogs winning, 83-76.

Asheville is in the midst of playing three games in five days. The Bulldogs play at Kennesaw State on Saturday, South Carolina State on Monday and then host Mercer Wednesday afternoon at Noon.