University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Women’s Basketball Travels to Presbyterian Tuesday Night
01.23.2017 | Women's Basketball
Asheville-Presbyterian Game Notes
THE MATCHUP
Teams: UNC Asheville (9-8, 3-3 Big South Conference)
Presbyterian (6-11, 4-2 Big South Conference)
Location: Clinton, S.C. / Ross E. Templeton Center
When: Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017 / 7 p.m.
Video: Big South Network
Radio: Rewind 100.3 FM (Asheville, N.C.)
Talent: Mike Gore
Live Stats: www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter: @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
SERIES WITH PRESBYTERIAN: When UNC Asheville and Presbyterian College face off Tuesday night, it will be the 21st meeting between the two with the Bulldogs having claimed the last four in the series. The two have only met 17 times as Big South foes with the Blue Hose holding a slight 9-8 advantage since the 2008-09 season. PC holds a 9-7 record against Asheville during regular-season Big South Conference games.
SCOUTING THE BLUE HOSE: Entering Tuesday's game in Clinton, S.C., Presbyterian boasts the third-best scoring defense in the league, holding opponents to 61.7 points per outing. The Blue Hose are also the second-best free throw shooting team in the conference, hitting 74.6 percent of their free throw attempts. PC is led by Cortney Storey's 12.0 points per game.
WELCOME BACK: On Saturday, Jan. 28, the UNC Asheville women's basketball program will welcome back the 2006-07 team which won the Big South Conference title that year. This season marks the 10th anniversary that those Bulldogs, under the direction of head coach Betsy Blose, defeated Radford 67-57 to win the Big South Tournament crown and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: Liberty may control the overall record with Asheville (52-11), but the Bulldogs have now claimed the last three meetings over the Flames, including Saturday's home game on ESPN3, with all three meetings coming inside Kimmel Arena. That streak includes downing Liberty 64-62 in last season's Big South Conference Championship game to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
MAJOR SCORING: Senior guard Chatori Major matched her season-high of 19 points in the Bulldogs' 64-54 win over Liberty Saturday. Major last scored 19 points against USC Upstate, including hitting three of her five treys and all four of her free throw attempts.
WALL BEYOND THE ARC: Sophomore guard Jessica Wall set a season-high with three three-pointers against Liberty, Saturday afternoon. Wall went 3-for-5 (.600) from three-point range en route to tallying 11 points. The 11 points are also a season-high for the point guard.
CAPITALIZING ON TURNOVERS: Saturday afternoon, UNC Asheville forced Liberty to turn the ball over 18 times. The Bulldogs turned those turnovers into 24 points and out-scored the Flames 24-9 in the category.
CORRALLING THEM IN: Senior center KJ Weaver is currently seventh in UNC Asheville's Division I era for career rebounds and is ninth all-time in program history with 618 boards.
SEEING DOUBLE: When centers KJ Weaver and Bronaza Fitzgerald each recorded a double-double in the Bulldogs' 68-53 win over Winthrop on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 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.
AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN: After scoring 80 points in a game at Longwood on Saturday, Jan. 7, 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. She has since joined an even more elite group, becoming the 74th player in Big South history to eclipse the 600 rebound mark. She presently has 618 rebounds in her career.
BIG SOUTH UNVEILS NEW BRAND IDENTITY (Per the Big South Conference): "The Big South Conference introduced its new brand identity on Saturday, Jan. 14, that epitomizes the league's strong commitment to its student-athletes and re-establishes the Conference's vitality, personality and longstanding success in NCAA Division I collegiate athletics under a new mantra – 'Where Winners Are Made.'" Full Release: Visit BigSouthSports.com
UP NEXT: UNC Asheville will play the next two games at home beginning with a 2 p.m. tipoff against Radford on Saturday, Jan. 28. Radford is currently tied for tops in the league with Campbell with a 5-1 conference mark.
QUOTABLES
"Presbyterian is always a tough match-up for us. They have a lot of returners from a great team last year and they are talented. Our girls understand how well we need to execute on both ends and also that their gym is one of the toughest to play in the league."- Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick
