University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Asheville Women Host High Point Saturday Afternoon
01.13.2017 | Women's Basketball
Asheville-High Point Game Notes
THE MATCHUP
Teams: UNC Asheville (8-6, 2-1 Big South Conference)
High Point (3-11, 1-2 Big South Conference)
Location:Â Asheville, N.C. / Kimmel Arena
When:Â Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017 / 2 p.m.
Television: WMYA-TV, My40
Talent: Jack Connors (PxP), Canio Costanzo (Analyst)
Live Video:Â Big South Network
Live Stats:Â www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
ROCKY'S READERS NIGHT: The Rocky's Readers program presented by Zaxby's asked students to read five age appropriate books over the winter school break to earn a ticket to cheer on the UNC Asheville women's basketball team Jan. 14 against High Point. For nearly ten years, students in Buncombe County have participated with their school in the Rocky's Readers program. All students who completed their reading and returned their log to the school are invited to Saturday's game. The top schools will be honored at halftime of the game. The UNC Asheville women's basketball team and other Bulldog student-athletes spend the month of December each year traveling to schools around the county introducing the program to the students and reminding them of the importance of reading daily.
SERIES WITH HIGH POINT: High Point owns an all-time record of 34-13 against UNC Asheville. However, the Bulldogs swept both meetings last year by scores of 82-81 (Jan. 23, 2016) and 85-64 (Mar. 5, 2016). The win over HPU in the regular-season finale locked up the Bulldogs' first-ever Big South Conference regular season crown.
HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSES: Saturday's Big South Conference women's showdown will put the two best scoring offenses in the conference on display as UNC Asheville and High Point enter the game as the top two scoring offenses. Asheville averages 67.4 points per contest while HPU comes into Saturday averaging 67.0 points per game. Through three league games, the Panthers have averaged 76.7 points per game while Asheville has averaged 67.7.
SHOOTING LIGHTS OUT: UNC Asheville leads the league in both scoring offense and team field goal percentage. The Bulldogs have connected on 42.0 percent of their attempts from the field and have made 350 field goals so far this season.
CORRALLING THEM IN: Senior center KJ Weaver corralled in 12 rebounds Tuesday night at Winthrop, giving her 599 for her career. She is currently eighth in UNC Asheville's Division I era for career rebounds and is 10th all-time in program history.
SEEING DOUBLE PART 1: When centers KJ Weaver and Bronaza Fitzgerald each recorded a double-double in the Bulldogs' 68-53 win over Winthrop Tuesday night, it was the first time the feat had been accomplished by two UNC Asheville women's basketball players since the 2010-11 season. That year, Lindsay Montgomery scored 20 points and brought down 10 boards while Kelli Riles chipped in 11 points and added 10 rebounds in a loss to Charleston Southern on Feb. 9, 2011. In fact, the duo of Montgomery and Riles accomplished the feat four times that season.
SEEING DOUBLE PART 2: KJ Weaver's double-double performance Tuesday night against Winthrop was the third of the season for the senior center. In those three games, she has averaged 14.7 points and 14.3 boards per contest. In the trio of games, she has snagged 21 offensive rebounds.
SEEING DOUBLE PART 3: Junior center Bronaza Fitzgerald recorded her first double-double of the season Tuesday night against the Eagles with 13 points and 11 rebounds. It is the first time she has accomplished the feat since late last season when she scored 18 points and corralled in 15 rebounds while leading the Bulldogs to a 91-68 win over Charleston Southern on Mar. 1, 2016.
CLEANING THE OFFENSIVE GLASS: In the Bulldogs' last four games, senior KJ Weaver has corralled in 22 offensive rebounds, including a season-high eight against Harvard and seven at home against Campbell. Weaver has brought down five or more offensive boards four times this season.
MAKING THEM COUNT: Junior guard Khaila Webb has been near perfect at the free throw line in each of Asheville's previous three games, converting all 12 of her 13 attempts. She went 6-for-6 last Tuesday in the Big South opener against Campbell and followed that up by converting all five of her free throws on Saturday at Longwood. Webb has been perfect at the charity stripe seven times this season and boasts a free throw shooting percentage of .811, tops on the team of players who have made 25 or more free throw attempts.
AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN: After scoring 80 points in last Saturday's game at Longwood, UNC Asheville is 6-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points. The Bulldogs are also 3-0 when scoring 80 or more points.
IT'S AN HONOR: Prior to the win over Wofford (Dec. 15), Tianna Knuckles was honored for joining the prestigious 1,000-point club at UNC Asheville. One of only 105 in Big South Women's Basketball history to surpass 1,000 points, Knuckles passed the 1,000-point mark in the Bulldog win over Western Carolina on Friday, Nov. 18, at Kimmel Arena. The senior guard out of Wendell, N.C. now has 1,129 career points.
GET ON BOARD: UNC Asheville senior center KJ Weaver became the 108th player in Big South Conference women's basketball history to eclipse the 500 rebound plateau in the Bulldogs' win over Western Carolina on Nov. 18. Weaver presently has 599 rebounds in her career.
UP NEXT: Saturday's game against High Point will be the first of four home games for the Bulldogs over the next six contests. Following the game with the Panthers, Asheville will hit the road for Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
QUOTABLES
"We are looking forward to another opportunity to get better on Saturday and compete in league play. Each of these games are like gold. High Point has a very high octane offense and they are well coached. It will be another very challenging matchup for us." -Â Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick
