University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Winthrop
Women’s Hoops Preparing to Host Winthrop Tuesday
02.20.2017 | Women's Basketball
Asheville-Winthrop Game Notes (PDF)
THE MATCHUP
Teams: UNC Asheville (12-13, 6-8 Big South Conference)
Winthrop (2-24, 1-13 Big South Conference)
Location: Asheville, N.C. / Kimmel Arena
When: Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 / 7 p.m.
Video: Big South Network
Radio: 100.3 FM
Talent: Mike Gore
Live Stats: www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter: @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
SERIES WITH WINTHROP: Asheville enters Tuesday's home game against Winthrop with a 41-29 record over the Eagles, including having won three-straight.
THE LAST TIME THESE TWO MET (1/10/17): A huge team effort in the second half and a pair of double-double performances down low helped the UNC Asheville women's basketball team defeat Winthrop 68-53 on the road inside the Winthrop Coliseum in Big South Conference action. Winthrop started the game off well, taking a 35-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Eagles shot 44 percent (14-32) from the field in the opening half while holding the Bulldogs to just 29 percent (9-31) from the field. Asheville netted 15 points off five three-pointers in the first 20 minutes of play. Out of the intermission, the Bulldogs responded by opening the second half with an impressive 21-4 run through the third quarter to go up 48-39, including converting six straight field goals at one point early in the stanza. Asheville's defense was also stingy as ever as the Bulldogs kept the Eagles from converting a field goal until 44 seconds left in the period. The Bulldog women forced four Eagle turnovers in the stanza. The fourth quarter saw Asheville continue the hot shooting streak with an 8-0 run through the first 3:02 of the quarter, forcing Winthrop to call a timeout trailing 56-39. Out of the timeout, Bronaza Fitzgerald stripped the ball from Winthrop's Erica Williams and turned the Winthrop turnover into two points to extend the streak to 10-0 before Winthrop was able to score four straight points, including a three-ball from Noell Kellers with 5:18 left in regulation. Despite the small spurt from Winthrop, Asheville cruised down the stretch to net the third straight win over Winthrop in the series.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Winthrop is in the midst of a seven game losing skid. Most recently, the Eagles fell 63-57 at Gardner-Webb on Saturday, Feb. 28. The Eagles are led by Erica Williams' 15.3 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per contest. She is the only player to have started all 24 games for Winthrop this season.
LAST TIME OUT (Longwood, 2/18/17): The UNC Asheville women's basketball team notched a key Big South Conference win Saturday afternoon inside Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs snapped a four-game skid with an 84-53 win over Longwood on their home court. Asheville led from start to finish as Chatori Major spurred the Bulldogs on a 12-0 opening run with 10 points of her own. The Bulldog defense held the Lancers scoreless for the first 3:42 of the game. By the end of the first quarter, Asheville led the Lancers by 14, 25-11. Longwood was able to cut the Asheville lead to as few as nine early in the second quarter when Kemari Jones snuck through the Bulldog defenders for a layup, but that was closest the Lancers could muster as the Bulldogs once again pulled away and took an 11-point, 40-29 lead into the halftime break. Out of the intermission, it was once again all Bulldogs as they converted 56.7 percent (17-of-30) of their attempts from the field in the second half alone as they steadily built up the lead in the closing minutes. Asheville ended the game shooting 52.5 percent (31-of-59) from the field, including shooting a blistering 69.2 percent (9-of-13) in both the first and fourth quarters.
CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Senior Chatori Major is quickly closing in on 1,000 career points. She now has 995 career points. Last season, she scored 452 points en route to earning Big South Conference Player of the Year honors and currently leads the team with 347 points this season.
MOVING ON UP: Senior KJ Weaver finished Saturday's win over Longwood with 13 rebounds, giving her 682 over her illustrious career. That mark has her fifth in Asheville's NCAA Division I era and seventh all-time. The next milestone will be 720 career rebounds for sixth all-time and fourth in the D-1 era. Tonisha Jackson (1999-2004) currently holds those marks. Weaver's 201 rebounds as a senior are a career-high for rebounds in a season for her.
BLOCK PARTY: KJ Weaver swatted away two more shots Saturday, marking the 15th time this season she has recorded multiple blocks in a game. It is also the fifth game in a row she has accomplished the feat and sixth game in the last seven. She currently has 152 career blocks.
WEAVER FEATURED IN BIG SOUTH MUSCO SPOTLIGHT: UNC Asheville women's basketball senior forward KJ Weaver has been featured in the most recent Big South Conference MUSCO Spotlight, a video feature produced by the conference office that focuses on women's student-athletes and their personal stories during the 2016-17 year. In the video released by the Big South Conference office, Weaver talks about growing up with parents who are deaf and how her stepfather's passion for basketball led her to the sport she now loves. She also talks about how her parents helped teach her patience and understanding both on and off the court.
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.
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 645 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: Following Tuesday's home game against Winthrop, the Bulldogs will hit the road for the final two road games of the regular-season. Asheville first treks to Radford on Saturday, Feb. 25, for a 2 p.m. game against the Highlanders before traveling to Liberty on Monday, Feb. 27, for a 7 p.m. contest.
QUOTABLES
"We want to continue to work towards playing our best basketball. I thought Saturday was a good effort but it's not where we want to stay. We are looking forward to another opportunity to play in front of our home crowd." – Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick
