University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Women’s Basketball Travels to High Point Saturday for ESPN3 Game
02.03.2017 | Women's Basketball
Asheville-High Point Game Notes (PDF)
THE MATCHUP
Teams: UNC Asheville (11-9, 5-4 Big South Conference)
High Point (7-13, 5-4 Big South Conference)
Location: High Point, N.C. / Millis Center
When: Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 / 2 p.m.
Video: ESPN3
Talent: Kevin Burke (PxP), Chuckie Brown (Analyst)
Radio: Rewind 100.3 FM (Asheville, N.C.)
Talent: Mike Gore
Live Stats: www.uncabulldogs.com
Twitter: @ashevilledogs #ThePursuit
BULLDOG BITES
INSIDE THE STANDINGS: Radford and Campbell continue to lead the Big South Conference standings, but the gap back to third and fourth has closed as the Highlanders and Camels both have two losses on their ledgers. Liberty is in sole possession of third with a 6-3 mark before the four-way tie for fourth between Asheville, High Point, Presbyterian and Charleston Southern. Gardner-Webb sits eighth with a 4-5 league record ahead of Winthrop (1-8) and Longwood (0-9).
SERIES WITH HIGH POINT: Since the 1994-95 season, High Point owns an all-time record of 32-10 over UNC Asheville, including winning the first meeting this season in Asheville on Wednesday, Jan. 14. In Big South Conference games, the Panthers are 27-8 all-time against the Bulldogs, but Asheville swept the two meetings last season. The first win last season on January 23 in High Point broke a 14-game winning streak by the Panthers in the series.
THE LAST TIME THESE TWO MET: A strong second-half effort by the UNC Asheville women's basketball team was not enough as High Point netted a 76-60 victory over the Bulldogs in Big South Conference action inside Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs got off to a slow start, hitting just three field goals in the first quarter, but business picked up from there. Asheville steadily got better as the game progressed, but High Point shot 50 percent (28-56) from the field for the game, including 64.3 percent (9-14) in the second quarter.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: High Point enters Saturday's game averaging a league-best 67.1 points per game. The Panthers are also second in the conference in free throw percentage (.753), three-point field goal percentage (.354) and three-point field goals made with 6.7 per game. The Panthers are led by Emma Bockrath's 11.6 points per game and Kaylah Keys' 11.2 points per outing. Bockrath also leads the team with 6.2 rebounds per game and is one of only two players to have started every game along with Kat Harris. Keys has started 19 games along with Shea Morgan.
BULLDOGS ON ESPN3: Saturday's game will be the second time this season that the UNC Asheville women have been featured on ESPN3. The Bulldogs' 64-54 home win over Liberty on January 21 was also featured on ESPN3.
LAST TIME OUT: The UNC Asheville women's basketball team earned a hard-fought, 56-47 home win Tuesday night over Charleston Southern in a physical Big South Conference game inside Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs (11-9, 5-4 Big South Conference) remain in the hunt for the Big South Conference regular season crown as both Radford and Campbell lost. The Highlanders and Camels remain atop the standings with matching 7-2 Big South records while Liberty improved to third with a 6-3 league mark. UNC Asheville, Charleston Southern (11-9, 5-4 Big South Conference), High Point and Presbyterian College are now in a four-way tie for fourth following Tuesday night's league action. The Asheville women trailed for much of the first half, but continued to battle and fight, eventually closing the gap on the Buccaneers midway through the second quarter. With 4:15 left in the first half, Jessica Wall hit a jumper in the paint to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game since the opening minutes of the contest. After Rachel Burns hit two of four free throws, KJ Weaver gave the lead back to the Bulldogs for good with four points in the closing minutes of the half. Asheville took a 26-23 lead into the halftime break. The Bulldogs were able to hold onto the lead for the remainder of the game, leading by as many as nine in the fourth quarter when Weaver hit her fourth free throw of the night with 27 seconds left.
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.
CLEANING THE OFFENSIVE GLASS: Tuesday night's game marked the sixth time this season that KJ Weaver has corralled in at least five offensive rebounds. The senior forward had a season-high eight against Harvard earlier in the season and also had seven offensive boards at home against Campbell to open Big South Conference play.
CORRALLING THEM IN: Sophomore Sonora Dengokl had a season-high nine rebounds Tuesday night against Charleston Southern. Her previous season-high was eight twice earlier in the season. She also had a season-high four offensive boards.
CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Senior Chatori Major is quickly closing in on 1,000 career points. After scoring 17 points against the Buccaneers Tuesday night, she now has 902 career points. Last season, she scored 452 points and currently has 254 points this season.
BLOCK PARTY: Last Saturday afternoon against Radford was the third time this season that KJ Weaver has recorded at least three blocks in a game. She has had multiple blocks in 10 games this season, including a season-high five earlier this season against Tennessee Tech. She currently has 140 blocks for her career, a mark that has her in the top-five of program history.
MOVING ON UP: Senior KJ Weaver finished Tuesday's game with nine rebounds, giving her 639 over her illustrious career. That mark has her now sixth in Asheville's NCAA Division I era and eighth all-time.
THREE FOR THREE: Senior guard Chatori Major tied the program single-game record last Tuesday night with seven three-pointers on the road at Presbyterian. The Camp Lejune, N.C., native was lethal from beyond the arc as she connected on 70 percent (7-of-10) of her attempts. She tied a mark set originally by Grace Blaylock on Jan. 14, 2012, at Winthrop. Shonese Jones also hit seven treys on Feb. 17, 2015 at High Point.
MAJOR SCORING: Reigning Big South Conference Player of the Year Chatori Major had a career night against the Blue Hose on Tuesday, Jan. 24, scoring 31 points off 9-for-19 shooting. Tuesday night marked the first time since the 2011-12 season that a Bulldog women's basketball player has scored at least 30 points in a single game. That year, Shonese Jones accomplished the feat twice. On Dec. 19, 2011, she scored 30 against SC State and on Jan. 30, 2012, she scored 30 against Radford.
MAKING THEM COUNT: Chatori Major wasn't just efficient from beyond the three-point arc against Presbyterian. In that game, the senior guard converted all six of her free throw attempts against the Blue Hose. It is the fifth time this season she has been perfect at the charity stripe and it is the second time this season she has converted six free throws.
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 630 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 returns home on Tuesday, Feb. 7 for a 7 p.m. game against Presbyterian. The game inside Kimmel Arena against the Blue Hose will break up three road games at High Point, Campbell and Charleston Southern for the Bulldogs.
QUOTABLES
"We will start our second round of Big South Conference play at High Point on Saturday. They have been playing very well and are tough to guard because they have so many talented offensive threats. We need to play much better defensively than we did in the first match-up." – Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick
