University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Sunday, December 30
Macon, GA
2:00 PM
UNC Asheville
at
Mercer
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Women’s Basketball Concludes Non-Conference Play on Sunday
12.29.2018 | Women's Basketball
2018-19 UNC Asheville Women's Basketball Media Guide
THE MATCHUP
Teams: UNC Asheville (5-5, 0-0 Big South)
Mercer (7-5, 0-0 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. (Hawkins Arena)
Date/Time: Sunday, Dec. 30 / 2 p.m.
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: mercerbears.com
Twitter: @UNCAvlWBB #ThePursuit
MACON, Ga. – To conclude non-conference play for the 2018-19 season, the UNC Asheville women's basketball team travels to Mercer on Sunday, Dec. 30.
Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
BULLDOG BITES
About UNC Asheville
UNC Asheville travels to Macon with a .500 record, 5-5. The Bulldogs are currently on a two-game skid but are 2-2 in their last four contests.
In Asheville's last head-to-head contest (at Middle Tennessee on Dec. 20), the Bulldogs fell to the Blue Raiders, 67-46. Zip Scott had a career day, as the junior tallied a single-game best 17 points. She also made five three-pointers, which was also a career best. The Anderson, S.C. native went 6-for-10 from the floor, including 5-for-8 behind the three-point arc. Sophomore Nadiria Evans finished the non-conference game with nine points in 20 minutes of action.
Two Bulldogs are averaging double digits this year in Sonora Dengokl and Evans. Dengokl has a team-high 14.4 points per game, while Evans averages 10.5 points per contest. Dengokl has started all 10 games this year and averages 27.8 minutes per game. She has tallied 19 offensive board (second most on the team) and averages 1.7 assists per game. Evans has appeared in all 10 games so far and averages 20.2 minutes per game. Both Bulldogs are efficient from the hardwood, as they are shooting .476 percent of better.
Scouting Mercer
Mercer hosts UNC Asheville with a 7-5 overall record and a 3-2 mark inside its home arena. The Bears are currently on a three-game win streak with victories over Charlotte, Howard and George Washington. They have also played stiff competition this season in Florida State (one-point loss, 57-56), Georgia (seven-point loss, 67-60) and Central Florida (34-point loss). Highlighting their year was a dominating 10-point victory over Florida at home, 92-82.
The Bears' leading scorer this season is KeKe Calloway. The senior guard is averaging 19.9 points per game, as she has started all 12 games this year. In fact, all five of Mercer's starters – Calloway, Amanda Thompson, Linnea Rosendal, Shannon Titus and Rachel Selph – are averaging nine points or more per game.
Thompson is the second Bear that is averaging double digits with 11.4 points and is also the team's leading rebounder with 8.6 boards per contest. She has team-leading 45 offensive rebounds. She has eight blocks on the year and 31 total assists.
Titus is Mercer's team leader in blocks with 10 and steals with 30. She has also dished out 33 total assists.
All-Time History Versus the Bears
Sunday's contest will mark the fifth all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and Bears. The two clubs met last year in Kimmel Arena, and the last time the two teams met in Macon was during the 2010-11 season.
In last year's head-to-head contest, the Bears upended the Bulldogs, 67-56. Ali Trani and Khaila Webb each tallied 13 points, as they combined for nine made field goals. Bronaza Fitzgerald contributed 11 points and grabbed a team-high eight points. Scott also added nine points of her own on 4-for-5 shooting.
In the 2010-11 game in Macon, UNC Asheville claimed a three-point victory over the Bears, 76-73. Kelli Riles scored 22 points on 11-for-13 shooting, and Lindsey Montgomery added 20 points on 6-for-9 from the floor. Montgomery was also impressive from the charity stripe – 8-for-9.
BARKING ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
CONTE EARNS PRESTIGIOUS NCAA POSTGRADUATE INTERNSHIP: A senior swimming and diving student-athlete, Elizabeth Conte will get to live out her passion with her new opportunity as one of just 30 to receive a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Internship. The Chapel Hill, N.C. native will be working in NCAA Division I governance as part of her postgraduate internship. To learn more, please visit HERE.
NEW STRATEGIC PLAN: UNC Asheville athletics officially unveiled its newest strategic plan on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. The strategic plan entitled "Believe. Achieve. Thrive." is the road map for UNC Asheville athletics over the course of the next five years. The strategic plan outlines key areas of focus and growth in developing lifetime leaders from the most valuable resource that UNC Asheville athletics has in its student-athletes. To learn more about the strategic plan, please visit HERE (PDF).
NATIONAL CHAMPS: The nationally second-ranked UNC Asheville men's tennis doubles duo of Oli Nolan and Henry Patten secured a national championship on Sunday, Nov. 11, with a 6-2, 6-1 win over nationally 42nd-ranked Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn of Texas Tech in the championship match of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex. In addition to the national championship win, Patten was also voted by the ITA Officials at the event to receive the Sportsmanship Award for the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. The championship match win for Nolan and Patten was part of a tremendous fall of 2018 for the pairing. Nolan and Patten went undefeated playing together during the fall and won three titles including the national championship.
MORE THAN MAKING THE GRADE: For the 2017-18 athletic year, the UNC Asheville student-athletes showed their commitment to the classroom by finishing the academic year with a combined grade-point average of 3.142. Impressively, 72 percent (161 of 223) UNC Asheville student-athletes during the 2017-18 athletic year received Athletic Director Honor Roll recognition with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
TWO-TIME SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: For the second time in his career, UNC Asheville senior Blanton Gillespie was selected as a Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Gillespie was chosen as the 2018 Big South Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the Big South Cross Country Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting and UCS at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex on Friday, Oct. 26. The honor is just the latest for Gillespie, who was named the 2018 Big South Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in May of 2018.
BIG SOUTH WOMAN OF THE YEAR: UNC Asheville graduate Kayli Nichols was selected as the 2017-18 Big South Conference Woman of the Year. With degrees in German and Political Science and a minor in Spanish, Nichols graduated from UNC Asheville with a GPA of 3.974. During her senior campaign, she was named the Big South Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Big South Indoor Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
BIG SOUTH MALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: On the same day that he started his new full-time position in the Corporate Analyst Development Program at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Columbus, Ohio on July 11, 2018, former UNC Asheville men's basketball standout Kevin Vannatta was chosen as the 2017-18 Big South Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition to winning the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the conference, Vannatta was also chosen as the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA) Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's basketball and as the Big South Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Upper Arlington, Ohio native was also selected to the 2017-18 Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). An Accounting major at UNC Asheville, Vannatta graduated with a 3.94 grade-point average.
How To Follow The Game Live
The game at Mercer will be streamed on ESPN+. The streaming link can be found by clicking HERE. Live stats will also be available, and the link can be found by clicking HERE.
What's Next?
UNC Asheville ends its four-game road swing and opens Big South Conference play with a trip to Radford on Saturday, Jan. 5. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. inside the Dedmon Center.
THE MATCHUP
Teams: UNC Asheville (5-5, 0-0 Big South)
Mercer (7-5, 0-0 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. (Hawkins Arena)
Date/Time: Sunday, Dec. 30 / 2 p.m.
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: mercerbears.com
Twitter: @UNCAvlWBB #ThePursuit
MACON, Ga. – To conclude non-conference play for the 2018-19 season, the UNC Asheville women's basketball team travels to Mercer on Sunday, Dec. 30.
Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
BULLDOG BITES
About UNC Asheville
UNC Asheville travels to Macon with a .500 record, 5-5. The Bulldogs are currently on a two-game skid but are 2-2 in their last four contests.
In Asheville's last head-to-head contest (at Middle Tennessee on Dec. 20), the Bulldogs fell to the Blue Raiders, 67-46. Zip Scott had a career day, as the junior tallied a single-game best 17 points. She also made five three-pointers, which was also a career best. The Anderson, S.C. native went 6-for-10 from the floor, including 5-for-8 behind the three-point arc. Sophomore Nadiria Evans finished the non-conference game with nine points in 20 minutes of action.
Two Bulldogs are averaging double digits this year in Sonora Dengokl and Evans. Dengokl has a team-high 14.4 points per game, while Evans averages 10.5 points per contest. Dengokl has started all 10 games this year and averages 27.8 minutes per game. She has tallied 19 offensive board (second most on the team) and averages 1.7 assists per game. Evans has appeared in all 10 games so far and averages 20.2 minutes per game. Both Bulldogs are efficient from the hardwood, as they are shooting .476 percent of better.
Scouting Mercer
Mercer hosts UNC Asheville with a 7-5 overall record and a 3-2 mark inside its home arena. The Bears are currently on a three-game win streak with victories over Charlotte, Howard and George Washington. They have also played stiff competition this season in Florida State (one-point loss, 57-56), Georgia (seven-point loss, 67-60) and Central Florida (34-point loss). Highlighting their year was a dominating 10-point victory over Florida at home, 92-82.
The Bears' leading scorer this season is KeKe Calloway. The senior guard is averaging 19.9 points per game, as she has started all 12 games this year. In fact, all five of Mercer's starters – Calloway, Amanda Thompson, Linnea Rosendal, Shannon Titus and Rachel Selph – are averaging nine points or more per game.
Thompson is the second Bear that is averaging double digits with 11.4 points and is also the team's leading rebounder with 8.6 boards per contest. She has team-leading 45 offensive rebounds. She has eight blocks on the year and 31 total assists.
Titus is Mercer's team leader in blocks with 10 and steals with 30. She has also dished out 33 total assists.
All-Time History Versus the Bears
Sunday's contest will mark the fifth all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and Bears. The two clubs met last year in Kimmel Arena, and the last time the two teams met in Macon was during the 2010-11 season.
In last year's head-to-head contest, the Bears upended the Bulldogs, 67-56. Ali Trani and Khaila Webb each tallied 13 points, as they combined for nine made field goals. Bronaza Fitzgerald contributed 11 points and grabbed a team-high eight points. Scott also added nine points of her own on 4-for-5 shooting.
In the 2010-11 game in Macon, UNC Asheville claimed a three-point victory over the Bears, 76-73. Kelli Riles scored 22 points on 11-for-13 shooting, and Lindsey Montgomery added 20 points on 6-for-9 from the floor. Montgomery was also impressive from the charity stripe – 8-for-9.
BARKING ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
CONTE EARNS PRESTIGIOUS NCAA POSTGRADUATE INTERNSHIP: A senior swimming and diving student-athlete, Elizabeth Conte will get to live out her passion with her new opportunity as one of just 30 to receive a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Internship. The Chapel Hill, N.C. native will be working in NCAA Division I governance as part of her postgraduate internship. To learn more, please visit HERE.
NEW STRATEGIC PLAN: UNC Asheville athletics officially unveiled its newest strategic plan on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. The strategic plan entitled "Believe. Achieve. Thrive." is the road map for UNC Asheville athletics over the course of the next five years. The strategic plan outlines key areas of focus and growth in developing lifetime leaders from the most valuable resource that UNC Asheville athletics has in its student-athletes. To learn more about the strategic plan, please visit HERE (PDF).
NATIONAL CHAMPS: The nationally second-ranked UNC Asheville men's tennis doubles duo of Oli Nolan and Henry Patten secured a national championship on Sunday, Nov. 11, with a 6-2, 6-1 win over nationally 42nd-ranked Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn of Texas Tech in the championship match of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex. In addition to the national championship win, Patten was also voted by the ITA Officials at the event to receive the Sportsmanship Award for the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. The championship match win for Nolan and Patten was part of a tremendous fall of 2018 for the pairing. Nolan and Patten went undefeated playing together during the fall and won three titles including the national championship.
MORE THAN MAKING THE GRADE: For the 2017-18 athletic year, the UNC Asheville student-athletes showed their commitment to the classroom by finishing the academic year with a combined grade-point average of 3.142. Impressively, 72 percent (161 of 223) UNC Asheville student-athletes during the 2017-18 athletic year received Athletic Director Honor Roll recognition with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
TWO-TIME SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: For the second time in his career, UNC Asheville senior Blanton Gillespie was selected as a Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Gillespie was chosen as the 2018 Big South Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the Big South Cross Country Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting and UCS at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex on Friday, Oct. 26. The honor is just the latest for Gillespie, who was named the 2018 Big South Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in May of 2018.
BIG SOUTH WOMAN OF THE YEAR: UNC Asheville graduate Kayli Nichols was selected as the 2017-18 Big South Conference Woman of the Year. With degrees in German and Political Science and a minor in Spanish, Nichols graduated from UNC Asheville with a GPA of 3.974. During her senior campaign, she was named the Big South Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Big South Indoor Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
BIG SOUTH MALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: On the same day that he started his new full-time position in the Corporate Analyst Development Program at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Columbus, Ohio on July 11, 2018, former UNC Asheville men's basketball standout Kevin Vannatta was chosen as the 2017-18 Big South Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition to winning the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the conference, Vannatta was also chosen as the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA) Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's basketball and as the Big South Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Upper Arlington, Ohio native was also selected to the 2017-18 Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). An Accounting major at UNC Asheville, Vannatta graduated with a 3.94 grade-point average.
How To Follow The Game Live
The game at Mercer will be streamed on ESPN+. The streaming link can be found by clicking HERE. Live stats will also be available, and the link can be found by clicking HERE.
What's Next?
UNC Asheville ends its four-game road swing and opens Big South Conference play with a trip to Radford on Saturday, Jan. 5. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. inside the Dedmon Center.
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