University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, March 11
Lynchburg, VA
4 P.M.
UNC Asheville
18-14
56
vs
55
Presbyterian
13-18
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNC Asheville | 24 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 56 |
| Presbyterian | 13 | 10 | 10 | 22 | 55 |
Bulldogs Headed to Championship Game After Thrilling Semifinal Win Over Presbyterian
03.11.2017 | Women's Basketball
Highlights (Click Link to Access)
LYNCHBURG, Va. – A three-point play by junior center Bronaza Fitzgerald in the final seconds of the game gave the seventh-seeded UNC Asheville women's basketball team a thrilling 56-55 win over sixth-seeded Presbyterian in semifinal action at the 2017 Big South Women's Basketball Championship at the Vines Center on Saturday, March 11.
With the win, UNC Asheville (18-14) advances to the Big South Tournament final for the second consecutive season. The Bulldogs will face off against top-seeded Radford in the championship game at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 12, at the Vines Center.
The Bulldogs would be down 5-4 with under seven minutes left in the first quarter, but after back-to-back three-pointers by senior guard Chatori Major the Bulldogs owned a 10-7 lead with 5:50 remaining in the opening quarter of action. Major scored eight of UNC Asheville's first 10 points in the contest.
Asheville would keep things rolling from there in the first quarter with the Bulldogs leading, 24-13, at the conclusion of the quarter. Major was a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the first quarter.
The second quarter it would be Presbyterian that would outscore the Bulldogs at 10-9 to leave Asheville ahead just 33-23 at the halftime break.
The Bulldogs would not be able to get much going offensively once again in the third quarter, but nevertheless Asheville would start the fourth quarter leading the Blue Hose, 41-33.
The Blue Hose would commence the fourth quarter on a 10-4 run to pull within two of Asheville at 45-43 with 6:03 remaining in the contest. The game would be tied at 47-all with 4:19 left in the game.
The two teams would play back and forth over the next few minutes with Presbyterian (13-18) holding a narrow 54-53 advantage with under a minute to play. The Blue Hose led 55-53 with 21 seconds left.
After a timeout with 21 seconds remaining, UNC Asheville then worked the basketball around before freshman guard Zip Scott found Fitzgerald open in the paint. Fitzgerald then made a tough bucket and was fouled in the process. With the game tied at 55-55 after her layup with 1.8 seconds remaining, Presbyterian then called a timeout. Fitzgerald was not fazed and she made the ensuing free throw to put the Bulldogs ahead, 56-55.
Senior center KJ Weaver then stole the basketball on Presbyterian's next possession to leave the Bulldogs with the thrilling one-point victory.
UNC Asheville finished the game shooting 42.9 percent (21-of-49) as a team. Presbyterian shot 48.8 percent (21-of-43) as a team in the loss to the Bulldogs.
Major led the Bulldogs with 15 points to go along with four steals and three rebounds.
Weaver finished her day with 10 points, four rebounds and two steals with none of her steals bigger than the one in the final second that clinched the Bulldog win.
Fitzgerald picked up her second double-double of the year in the thrilling Bulldog win with 14 points and 13 rebounds. She picked up seven of her 13 rebounds on the offensive glass.
Cortney Storey led Presbyterian in its loss with 22 points.
BULLDOG BITES
ASHEVILLE IN THE BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT: UNC Asheville is 17-28 in the Big South Tournament. The Bulldogs have now reached the championship game five times, including winning the crown in 2007 and 2016. The Bulldogs were runners up in 1998 and 2005. As the No. 7 Seed, UNC Asheville is now 3-4. The Bulldogs are the first seventh seed to reach the title game since 2013 and just the fourth overall.
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PROGRAM-BEST: The win over Presbyterian was Asheville's sixth straight league tournament win, which is the best in program history.
THREE FOR THREE: Senior guard Chatori Major with her three treys in the semifinal win over Presbyterian set program history with her 74th made three-pointer of the season. Last season, Tianna Knuckles set a new program mark at 73 made three-pointers, but Major's third three-pointer of the day made her the new single-season record holder in program history. Before Knuckles breaking the record last year as a junior it was a mark that had stood for 25 years prior. Major's 74 treys eclipses her previous career-high of 61 for three-pointers in a season set last year as a junior.
QUOTABLES
"First of all, credit PC. They gave us all that we could handle in that second half. We scored 24 points in the first quarter and then couldn't put that together in all of the second half. I think we scored 23 points in the second half, so credit their defense and their grit. They've got some tough-minded, really good players on that team, and they gave us all we could handle. And we knew that coming into this game that it was going to come down to a mental toughness aspect and I thought it was pretty even. Obviously, it's a one-point game, so we certainly weren't a whole lot tougher than them, but we made just one more play that we needed to make down the stretch. And it was a big one. I'm extremely proud of my girls. They showed resilience and resolve once again and I think that's just the manifestation of some of the things that we've gone through all season." – Head Coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick
LYNCHBURG, Va. – A three-point play by junior center Bronaza Fitzgerald in the final seconds of the game gave the seventh-seeded UNC Asheville women's basketball team a thrilling 56-55 win over sixth-seeded Presbyterian in semifinal action at the 2017 Big South Women's Basketball Championship at the Vines Center on Saturday, March 11.
With the win, UNC Asheville (18-14) advances to the Big South Tournament final for the second consecutive season. The Bulldogs will face off against top-seeded Radford in the championship game at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 12, at the Vines Center.
The Bulldogs would be down 5-4 with under seven minutes left in the first quarter, but after back-to-back three-pointers by senior guard Chatori Major the Bulldogs owned a 10-7 lead with 5:50 remaining in the opening quarter of action. Major scored eight of UNC Asheville's first 10 points in the contest.
Asheville would keep things rolling from there in the first quarter with the Bulldogs leading, 24-13, at the conclusion of the quarter. Major was a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the first quarter.
The second quarter it would be Presbyterian that would outscore the Bulldogs at 10-9 to leave Asheville ahead just 33-23 at the halftime break.
The Bulldogs would not be able to get much going offensively once again in the third quarter, but nevertheless Asheville would start the fourth quarter leading the Blue Hose, 41-33.
The Blue Hose would commence the fourth quarter on a 10-4 run to pull within two of Asheville at 45-43 with 6:03 remaining in the contest. The game would be tied at 47-all with 4:19 left in the game.
The two teams would play back and forth over the next few minutes with Presbyterian (13-18) holding a narrow 54-53 advantage with under a minute to play. The Blue Hose led 55-53 with 21 seconds left.
After a timeout with 21 seconds remaining, UNC Asheville then worked the basketball around before freshman guard Zip Scott found Fitzgerald open in the paint. Fitzgerald then made a tough bucket and was fouled in the process. With the game tied at 55-55 after her layup with 1.8 seconds remaining, Presbyterian then called a timeout. Fitzgerald was not fazed and she made the ensuing free throw to put the Bulldogs ahead, 56-55.
Senior center KJ Weaver then stole the basketball on Presbyterian's next possession to leave the Bulldogs with the thrilling one-point victory.
UNC Asheville finished the game shooting 42.9 percent (21-of-49) as a team. Presbyterian shot 48.8 percent (21-of-43) as a team in the loss to the Bulldogs.
Major led the Bulldogs with 15 points to go along with four steals and three rebounds.
Weaver finished her day with 10 points, four rebounds and two steals with none of her steals bigger than the one in the final second that clinched the Bulldog win.
Fitzgerald picked up her second double-double of the year in the thrilling Bulldog win with 14 points and 13 rebounds. She picked up seven of her 13 rebounds on the offensive glass.
Cortney Storey led Presbyterian in its loss with 22 points.
BULLDOG BITES
ASHEVILLE IN THE BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT: UNC Asheville is 17-28 in the Big South Tournament. The Bulldogs have now reached the championship game five times, including winning the crown in 2007 and 2016. The Bulldogs were runners up in 1998 and 2005. As the No. 7 Seed, UNC Asheville is now 3-4. The Bulldogs are the first seventh seed to reach the title game since 2013 and just the fourth overall.
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PROGRAM-BEST: The win over Presbyterian was Asheville's sixth straight league tournament win, which is the best in program history.
THREE FOR THREE: Senior guard Chatori Major with her three treys in the semifinal win over Presbyterian set program history with her 74th made three-pointer of the season. Last season, Tianna Knuckles set a new program mark at 73 made three-pointers, but Major's third three-pointer of the day made her the new single-season record holder in program history. Before Knuckles breaking the record last year as a junior it was a mark that had stood for 25 years prior. Major's 74 treys eclipses her previous career-high of 61 for three-pointers in a season set last year as a junior.
QUOTABLES
"First of all, credit PC. They gave us all that we could handle in that second half. We scored 24 points in the first quarter and then couldn't put that together in all of the second half. I think we scored 23 points in the second half, so credit their defense and their grit. They've got some tough-minded, really good players on that team, and they gave us all we could handle. And we knew that coming into this game that it was going to come down to a mental toughness aspect and I thought it was pretty even. Obviously, it's a one-point game, so we certainly weren't a whole lot tougher than them, but we made just one more play that we needed to make down the stretch. And it was a big one. I'm extremely proud of my girls. They showed resilience and resolve once again and I think that's just the manifestation of some of the things that we've gone through all season." – Head Coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick
Team Stats
AVL
PC
FG%
.429
.488
3FG%
.385
.400
FT%
.500
.500
RB
37
21
TO
12
11
STL
9
7
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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