Celebrating 90 Years - Looking Back on 2017 Big South Tournament Championship

The UNC Asheville women's basketball team will host Radford Tuesday night (Feb. 5) in a crucial Big South Conference contest. Let's go back and look at last year's championship game between these two teams.

The UNC Asheville women's basketball team entered the 2017 title game looking to do what it had been picked to do at the start of the year and what it had done a year ago – win a Big South Championship. To do it, they would have to do something that had never been done before.

The Bulldogs had a roller-coaster 2016-17 season. Injuries would slow Asheville down and they started before the year began when forward Tiffany Wilson suffered a knee injury and would miss the entire campaign.

Then early in league play, senior guard Ja'Da Brayboy went out with a knee injury and was lost for the rest of the season. A week later, leading scorer Tianna Knuckles, would suffer a season-ending knee injury that would cause her to miss the rest of the year.

Not only those injuries but then second leading scorer Khaila Webb would go down with an injury and miss some games.

Asheville would get off to a slow start in league play, but the Bulldogs would rally down the stretch and enter the tournament with wins in four of their last five games. The only loss was a double-overtime decision at regular-season champion Radford.

The Bulldogs would finish the regular-season with a 9-9 league record and due to tie-breakers would finish in seventh place. That meant Asheville would have to play in the first round of the Big South Tournament at Liberty and to win a title, the Bulldogs would have to win four games in four days.

Asheville slipped past Longwood in the first round and then upset second-seeded Campbell in the quarterfinals. The victory over the Camels avenged two close regular-season losses the Bulldogs had suffered to CU.

In the semifinals, the Bulldogs were taken to the limit by Presbyterian College. Three different times the Blue Hose led by three late in the fourth quarter, but each time Asheville picked up a key bucket to stay close. Trailing by two late in the game, the Bulldogs got the ball to Bre Fitzgerald. She scored on a lay-up and was fouled with 1.8 seconds left. Bre made the free throw to give the Bulldogs the lead at 56-55. PC had one more chance to win, but KJ Weaver stole the inbounds pass to put Asheville in the championship game for the second straight year.

To win back-to-back championships, the Bulldogs would face top-seeded Radford. A Highlander team that had beaten Asheville twice in the regular season, both in overtime affairs. The Bulldogs would also have to win four games in four days. Something that had never been done in the history of either the men's or women's Big South Tournaments.

"I was a little concerned going into the championship game against Radford about fatigue," remembered Asheville coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick. "But we told the team that it was Radford's third game in three days. This was one game, and let's make sure we use all of our willpower to try and win. Let's don't let fatigue be the difference."

But early on, it looked like fatigue was going to play a factor. The Highlanders scored the first 10 points of the game to race to an early lead.

"I sensed early in the game that we were fatigued but then we settled in," said Kirkpatrick.

Radford raced to an early 10-point lead, but the lead would never get bigger. The Bulldogs slowly began to rally. They would never catch the Highlanders for most of the game, but they would stay close.

"Once we settled down, we were fine and I was never worried about being fatigued," added Kirkpatrick. "I saw tremendous determination in our team, especially in the fourth quarter."

Asheville entered the fourth quarter, trailing 42-38. Chatori Major sank a three-pointer to narrow the lead to 42-41. But the Bulldogs went cold from the field and Radford scored the next six points to take a 48-41 lead.

However, the Bulldogs' defense was battling hard and didn't allow RU to build on the seven-point lead. A lay-up from Major with under three minutes left to cut the lead to 48-43. Two free throws from Khaila Webb made it 48-45 on the next Asheville possession.

The teams would trade defensive stops over the next two minutes. The Bulldogs couldn't get closer, but the Highlanders couldn't pull away.

With less than a minute to play, Asheville had the ball, but Radford's defense would not allow the Bulldogs to get off a shot. Suddenly the ball came loose, center KJ Weaver dove on the floor with the shot-clock winding down. She pushed the ball to Major. The senior guard hit a short jumper to get Asheville closer at 48-47.

"I just saw our kids play with confidence in the fourth quarter. I remember looking into Chatori's eyes in the fourth quarter and she was so determined," commented Kirkpatrick. "It also helped that we had been in this position before. I think that gave us some confidence."

After a Radford miss, the Bulldogs had the ball with a chance to take the lead and possibly win. Kirkpatrick chose to play, instead of calling a time-out.

"I didn't want to call a time-out and allow Coach McGuire (Mike McGuire, Radford's head coach) to get his defense ready for us," added Kirkpatrick. "He's an excellent coach, and they would have been prepared."

Plus, the Bulldogs had been in the same situation the day before against Presbyterian.

"We were in the same position the day before against PC, and we ended up getting a good shot in the end," she also said.

Asheville moved the ball around and tried to get a good shot against the tough Radford defense. Finally, Major made a nice pass to Fitzgerald, who moved to the basket and was able to get a shot up. This shot wouldn't go in like the day before, but she was fouled with 5.5 seconds remaining.

Fitzgerald had made the winning free throw against PC but was 0-for-4 on the day and a 45 percent shooter on the season. However, Kirkpatrick had confidence in the junior center.

"I really thought Bre would make them," commented Kirkpatrick. "In my mind, I was preparing on how to stop Radford on its final possession."

Fitzgerald thought she would make them as well, thanks to a higher power.

"I got knocked down pretty good and wished I had made the shot," Fitzgerald said. "As I was getting up, I thought about my grandfather, who died last year. I called him Papa and he only lived 30 miles away from Lynchburg in Gretna. I knew he was with me and was going to help me make the free throws."

She made both free throws and the Bulldogs led for the first time in the game, 49-48. One more defensive stop and Asheville would repeat as champions.

The ball would go to Radford's leading scorer Detinee Walker. Her drive to the basket and shot was partially blocked by Major. However, the rebound went to Janayla White, one of the league's top post players. She was right underneath the basket and had a clear shot at the basket. Incredibly, Weaver was able to get her finger on the ball and that allowed the shot to fall short as time ran out.

The Bulldogs were champions for the second straight year. They had won four games in four days, the first basketball program to ever accomplish that feat in Big South history. Sophomore Sonora Dengokl was named Tournament MVP, while Major and Fitzgerald were named to the All-Tournament team.

"It was my most satisfying moment in coaching," explained Kirkpatrick. "You can list all the clichés and this team did all of those things. We never quit. We never stopped believing. We never stopped working.

"I was so happy for our players," she added. "It showed that their hard work had been affirmed and it's something that they can draw on from for the rest of their lives."

**In celebration of UNC Asheville's 90th anniversary, Hall of Famer Mike Gore will look back on important moments in athletics department history over the course of the 2017-18 athletic year**

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Celebrating 90 Years - Looking Back on 2017 Big South Tournament Championship

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Players Mentioned

Ja'Da Brayboy

Sonora Dengokl

Tianna Knuckles

Chatori Major

KJ Weaver

Khaila Webb

Tiffany Wilson

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