University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Clemson
Clemson Ends Bulldogs' Historic Winning Streak
12.21.2015 | Women's Basketball
THE RUNDOWN
Score: Clemson 67 – Asheville 49
Teams: Asheville (9-2, 2-0 BSC)
Clemson (4-8, 0-0 ACC)
Location: Jervey Gymnasium/Clemson, S.C.
CLEMSON, S.C. – UNC Asheville was held to a season-low 18 points in the first half Monday afternoon as Clemson snapped the Bulldogs' nine-game winning streak and Asheville fell 67-49 to the Tigers on the road.
THE TURNING POINT
The Bulldogs were just 5-of-21 shooting in the first half as Clemson notched a 40 percent shooting half and opened up a 12-point halftime advantage. Asheville finished the afternoon with 24 turnovers after averaging just 12.4 giveaways per contest entering the game.
NOTABLES
-Ja'Da Brayboy was the only Bulldog to finish in double figures, scoring 11 points, as Asheville was held to a season-low point total. Prior to today's game, the Bulldogs low point total of the year was 63 in their road win at Coastal Carolina.
-Chatori Major and Sonora Dengokl each tallied eight points, while Khaila Webb finished with seven points. As a team, the Bulldogs shot just 31 percent (5-of-48) from the floor, while they were just 4-of-14 from three-point range.
-The Bulldogs outrebounded Clemson 44-30, with 29 of their boards coming on the defensive glass. Clemson finished with 30 points in the paint and 29 points off of Asheville's 24 turnovers.
-Clemson saw three-players finish with double-digit scoring games, led by Danielle Edwards' game-high 20 points, including scoring 16 of Clemson's 30 first half points.
-The loss snaps the Bulldogs' nine-game winning streak, and their 9-1 start to the season will go down as the program's best start in the NCAA Division I era, finishing tied with the 1985-86 campaign when the school competed at the NAIA level for the best start in program history.
QUOTABLES FROM HEAD COACH BRENDA MOCK KIRKPATRICK
On the game – "Credit Clemson for their tough play today. From what I have seen on film, that was the best game they have played this season in terms of offensive execution and desire to win. They jumped on us early and we gave them too many opportunities by uncharacteristically turning the ball over. I know the girls wanted to play well, and we learned a lot from this game and were speaking about some of the potential causes to our lack of execution on both ends of the ball in the locker room after the game. I have no doubt they will come back focused on getting better on December 26th. Our non-conference play is over. Now it's time to get into the thick of our season. When we focus too much as a team on outcome it takes our eyes off the process. That happened to us too much this afternoon. But we won't let that happen again.”
UP NEXT
-After today's loss, the Bulldogs will take some time off for the holidays before returning to action at home next Tuesday night, December 29, when they welcome Winthrop to town as part of a doubleheader inside Kimmel Arena. The Asheville men will follow with a matchup against Furman.
