University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Women's Basketball Opens Season at ETSU Friday
11.12.2015 | Women's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. -
Asheville (0-0, 0-0 Big South) at East Tennessee State (0-0, 0-0 Southern)
| Date | Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 |
| Time | 7 p.m. ET |
| Location | J. Madison Brooks Gymnasium | Johnson City, Tenn. |
| Live Stats | StatBroadcast |
| Coverage | Listen Online |
| Game Notes | Asheville |
OPENING POSSESSION
• The UNC Asheville women's basketball team begins its 40th season of play on Friday, Nov. 13, tipping off the season at East Tennessee State. Under fourth-year head coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick, the Bulldogs are 1-2 in season opening games.
• Asheville will play its season opener on the road for the first time since playing at Davidson to begin the 2006-07 season. The Bulldogs have played each of the last eight season openers inside Justice Center/Kimmel Arena (4-4 record).
• Junior Tianna Knuckles enters the 2015-16 campaign as the team's leading returning scorer after posting 8.6 points per game a season ago. Knuckles reached double-digit scoring 14 times last season, including leading the team in scoring eight times.
ASHEVILLE'S STARTING FIVE
1. 40th Season of Bulldog Basketball
Asheville women's basketball opens its 40th season of play Friday night. Among the highlights for the Bulldogs include an appearance in the 2007 NCAA Tournament after winning the Big South Conference Tournament as well as a 1984 NAIA National Championship. Coinciding with the team's 40th season of play, 2015 also marks the athletic department's 30th season as a Division I competitor.
2. Ready to Break Through
Under fourth-year head coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick, the Bulldogs have shown steady improvement. Asheville showed a win improvement of +9 between years one and two (2012-13: 2-28, 2013-14: 11-20). Despite tallying a 9-22 mark a season ago, the Bulldogs could make a strong case for possibly reversing that record. Asheville was in the middle of a number of down-to-the-wire games a season ago, dropping 10 games by single digits including six by just three points or less.
3. No Love Lost
Coach Mock makes no secret about the fact that senior Paige Love is the heart and soul of the 2015-16 Bulldogs. Defined by Mock as a blue-collar player with a strong work-ethic, Love averaged 4.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game last season despite battling through multiple injuries. The team's leading returning assister (2.1 per game), Love ranked second in the Big South in assist/turnover ratio (1.69) last season.
4. Cracking our Knuckles
Through two seasons, junior Tianna Knuckles has proven to be a viable option on the floor. Averaging 9.1 points per game over her 62-game career, Knuckles ranked second on the team in scoring in both her freshman (9.5) and sophomore (8.6) campaigns. The 5-10 guard enters this season as the team's leading returning scorer as she reached double-digit scoring 14 times last season.
5. Majority Returning
Despite having five seniors depart due to graduation, including 2014-15's leading scorer Shonese Jones (12.4 ppg), Asheville returns the core of its production from last season. In addition to nine players returning, Asheville also brings back the majority of its production as .608 percent of its scoring, .591 percent of its rebounding, .518 percent of its assists and .561 percent of its minutes played from a season ago are on the 2015-16 roster.
ASHEVILLE BASKETBALL NOTES
The Juniors
Coach Mock's first full recruiting class will be relied upon to contribute heavily this season. The group of Tianna Knuckles, KJ Weaver, Ja'Da Brayboy and Chatori Major combined to make 29 starts a season ago and were responsible for .358 percent of the team's scoring, .303 percent of the team's rebounding and .314 percent of minutes played during the 2014-15 season. Among the nine returners, the junior class makes up .590 percent of the returning scoring, .513 percent of rebounding and .559 percent of minutes played.
Super Sophomores
Asheville's sophomore class of Bree Fitzgerald, Tiffany Wilson and Khaila Webb showed their ability to make an impact as freshmen last season. Fitzgerald led the team in field goal percentage (.593) and was second on the team in rebounding (4.1 per game) until an injury cut her season short. Webb missed the first chunk of last season but came on strong at the end, pouring in a career-high 16 points to go along with five rebounds in the Big South Quarterfinal against Coastal Carolina (March 3). Wilson appeared in all 31 games a season ago, averaging 14.4 minutes of floor time while averaging 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest.
Fresh Faces
Five newcomers enter the fold for Coach Mock this season in her largest Asheville recruiting class to date. Sonora Dengokl (Sumter, S.C./Lakewood) is a do-it-all perimeter player and will have the opportunity to make an impact immediately as a freshman. She is also one of the strongest players Mock says she has coached. Ali Trani (Moseley, Va./Cosby) is accustomed to playing in big games as she was the point guard for a nationally ranked program at Cosby HS. Already possessing a tremendous amount of athleticism, Alexis Toney (Wilson, N.C./Beddingfield) will add rebounding depth to the four position. Kelli Fisher (Salisbury, N.C./East Rowan) is the tallest Bulldog on the roster, standing at 6-3 and possessing good hands in the post. Jessica Wall (Chapel Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) was recruited for her passing ability and will look to help a Bulldog squad that averaged a league-low 10.1 assists per game last season.
Off-Season News and Notes
The Bulldogs had a relatively quiet offseason, however, there are two new additions to the basketball offices inside Kimmel Arena. Kiara Smith (UT-Chattanooga '12) joins Asheville in her first year as an assistant coach. Smith was most recently a graduate assistant at North Carolina State under women's basketball head coach Wes Moore. As a player for the Chattanooga Mocs, Smith was a part of back-to-back Southern Conference Regular Season Championships in 2009 and 2010. Lindsay Puckett (High Point '15) joins Asheville in her first year as the director of basketball operations. A recent graduate from Big South member High Point, Puckett was a four-year member of the Panthers' women's basketball team. She ranks second in program history for both games played (123) and three-pointers made (144).
Asheville to Host 2016 Big South Championship
UNC Asheville and Kimmel Arena have been selected to host the 2016 Big South Championship, the conference office announced Nov. 4. The tournament will run March 10-13, 2016. Asheville will host the tournament for the sixth time in program history, marking the second-most in league history, and for the first time since 2008. The Bulldogs previously hosted in 1990, 1999, 2000, 2007 and 2008 all inside the Justice Center. 2016 will be the first time the event has been held inside Kimmel Arena. Asheville's lone Big South Tournament Championship was captured in 2007, a year the Bulldogs hosted. Past champions of Asheville's host years include Radford (1990), Liberty (1999, 2000, 2008) and Asheville (2007). Asheville owns an 11-28 (.282) record overall in Big South Tournament games, including a 3-4 (.429) mark in games they hosted.
Bulldogs Picked Eighth in Preseason Poll
UNC Asheville was projected to finish eighth in the 2015-16 Big South Conference Preseason Poll. The Bulldogs 9-22 (7-13 Big South) record placed them eighth to round out the 2014-15 season. With six first-place votes, Liberty was picked as the favorite.
Mock Signs Two to 2016 Class
Coach Mock announced the signing of two players to the 2016 recruiting class. Brooke Jordan-Brown (Greer, S.C./Riverside) and Zipporah “Zip” Scott (Anderson, S.C./Belton-Honea Path) both submitted their National Letters of Intent Nov. 11. Jordan-Brown is a 6-1 post player who averaged a double-double in points and rebounds her junior year. In addition to being named to the All-Region and All-County Team in 2014-15, Jordan-Brown also owns a 4.54 grade-point average and is actively involved in a number of activities off the court including National Honor Society, BETA Club, YoungLife, Atlas, and Project Club. Scott has been a member of her varsity team since the seventh grade and has amassed upwards of 2,000 points in her high school career. She was named the Region Player of the Year in 2013-14 and holds multiple school records including most points in a season (546; 2013-14) and most points in a single game (43; 2013-14).
Televised Schedule Set
Every Bulldog home game will be streamed live online for free on the Big South Network. Each road game within the conference will also be available on BSN. Additionally, Asheville will be featured on ESPN3's exclusive “Game of the Week” coverage on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016, when the Bulldogs play host to Campbell at 2 p.m. ET. In total, 25 of Asheville's 29 regular-season games this year will be available online.
