University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Meet the Bulldogs: Senior Paige Love
11.12.2015 | Women's Basketball
The UNC Asheville women's basketball team tips off its 2015-16 season at East Tennessee State Friday, Nov. 13. As an opportunity to “Meet the Bulldogs,” one student-athlete will be highlighted each day leading up to the start of the season. Today's featured Bulldog women's basketball player is senior Paige Love.
A 5-8 senior, Love started 22 games last season while averaging 4.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Her 1.69 assist/turnover ratio ranked second in the Big South.
UNCABulldogs.com recently sat down with Love.
Senior
North Wilkesboro, N.C.
Major: “Health and wellness with a minor in psychology.”
What is your favorite part about UNC Asheville? “Athletically, it is the community support and how all the athletes feel like they are connected and we support each other. Also, I love academically, the small classroom size and the location. I also like my major. I love the health and wellness department because it's more about prevention and promotion rather than treatment.”
What are your post-school plans? “Post graduation, that's a great question. I want to go to grad school and hopefully be a graduate assistant on the women's basketball staff. I want to get my degree in exercise physiology with concentration in kinesiology or sports performance or sports management or something like that. The future is very, very near.”
Why did you choose Asheville? “Ultimately it was two hours away from home, I really liked the small class size, I really liked the team and the coaching staff at that time. It was Coach Blose, but whenever I came in – I have been under Coach Mock for four years – so Mock's really been a blessing, taking me under and treating me as her own recruit. I love the gym. I love the liberal arts education. I love the town. I love everything about Asheville, I don't want to leave.”
How long have you been playing basketball? “Since about five or six, I'm not really sure. I kind of jumped around sports. I danced until I was in sixth grade and then I chose sports over that. I had to go where my heart was. I love softball, thought I was going to play college softball, until my sophomore year and then I really decided to focus on basketball and that's what got me here.”
Who has been your biggest basketball influence? “My dad, papa Ray. He's really held it down. He's my role model, he's my rock, he tells me whatever I need to work on, and tells me attitude and effort are the only things I can control. He's really helped me.”
All-time starting five, who would you want on your team? “Tough. Elena Della Donne, my girl Maya Moore, I'm going to take Steph Curry, Katie (Wilkinson) is telling me to pick her but she can be the sixth man, I need a post, I'm not a LeBron fan so I can't say LeBron. Post play, let's put Brittney Griner down there in the paint. I'll put myself out there too.”
What are three things you can't live without? “The good Lord above, my family, and food.”
What's your favorite food? “That's tough because I love to eat. Hands down, I'm going to go with pizza. But my favorite meal is chicken casserole with green beans, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and crescent rolls.”
Do you make that yourself? “Yes. I threw that down for the team. I'm a great cook, Chef Paige.”
What nicknames do you have? “My dad calls me champ, my mom used to call me peanut, my team calls me P or P Love, and then I don't really have any other nicknames. Oh Sky, my first name is Skyler. Skyler is my first name but my parents wanted to call me by my middle name so I've always gone by Paige. People always ask why and that was their decision. They did the same thing to my brother. It's made my life really difficult because Skyler Love is what everybody says on the first day of school so I have to be like 'no I go by Paige.' But I like Paige, but I like Skyler too.”
Do you have a favorite class you've taken here? “Shoutout to Dr. Wrote, exercise physiology, favorite class so far. I can tell you anything about anaerobic or aerobic bacillus and how muscle contraction happens all the way from the brain to the biceps.”
I won't ask you to explain all that: “Yeah but I could at any moment.”
When I'm not on the basketball court, I am… “I am probably watching Law and Order SVU, Scandal, Grey's Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder, all those shows. I love watching my shows. Either cooking or eating. I really like to eat. My main focuses are eat, sleep, school and basketball and the shows.”
What are you most looking forward to this season? “That's so tough. Senior season I can't believe it. Time has flown. I'm so excited to see this team grow and our potential and what we will do this year and how we're just going to make a huge mark on the Big South. I love everything about this team, it's a different team dynamic but it's so loving and caring and supportive of each other. I only see good things with us. I just want to have a lot of fun this year and the wins will come.”
What's something most people may not know about you? “I think that I used to dance up until the sixth grade. Let me think of something good. I'm secretly a really big history nerd. I love history. I'm not majoring in it but I love anything to do with history and I love going to the monuments and sightseeing and I love learning more about our history and going to Washington DC and visiting all the museums. I don't know if people know that about me. I really like history and I know a lot about it.”
Do you have a favorite place you've visited? “I thought the Holocaust Museum was really, really good. It was overwhelming. I honestly like going to the Smithsonian in DC. Love history. What's something else that's good? I'm a huge fan of the Dream Girls and I know all of their songs and I can sing them to my heart's desire.”
Didn't they make a movie about the Dream Girls? “It's a good movie with Beyonce in it. We were riding in the car and Khaila (Webb) put on the Dream Girl soundtrack and she's like 'I know you don't know this' and I'm like 'watch me' and I knew all the words. I don't know if that's a secret, Tyler knows.”
