University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Thursday, March 3
Charlotte, N.C.
8 p.m.
UNC Asheville
10-21,3-15Big South
62
vs
57
USC Upstate
22-8,14-4Big South
1st quarter1
2nd quarter2
3rd quarter3
4th quarter4
FinalF
UNC Asheville
12
15
14
21
62
USC Upstate
12
12
19
14
57
Bulldogs upset USC Upstate to advance to the Big South Semifinals
03.03.2022 | Women's Basketball
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 11 seed UNC Asheville women's basketball team pulled off its second upset in three days Thursday night as it knocked off the No. 3 seed USC Upstate 62-57 in the quarterfinal round of the 2022 Hercules Big South Women's Basketball Tournament at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte.
Kai Carter led the way for Asheville in Thursday's win with 23 points and seven rebounds. After being held quiet for the first three quarters, Nadiria Evans caught fire late and finished with 17 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists.
"Just proud of all of our players," said Head Coach Honey Brown said afterward. "We had some players come off the bench and hit some big shots in Jamia Blake and Maliyah Lockett at critical times, along with Nadiria and Kai being steady. I can't be more proud of this group. We talk about resilience and hanging with it, which we did in our last game against North Carolina A&T in the fourth quarter. I believe our players have bought into that, and we got some big stops when we needed them."
In the opening minutes of Thursday's contest, Asheville and USC Upstate traded buckets early on. The Bulldogs swung the momentum back in their direction with a 7-0 run, which was partly fueled by a key four-point play from Kai Carter. However, Upstate was able to claw back and tie the score at 12, heading to the second frame.
As the second quarter began, USC Upstate began the frame clicking hitting four straight field goals. Asheville took a timeout in an attempt to regroup, and it seemed to do the trick. Over the final four minutes of the first half, the Bulldogs rattled off an 8-0 run. The sudden spark from Asheville came via makes from Carter, Evans, Amanda Blake, and Jamia Blake. Thanks to this run, the Bulldogs held the halftime lead, 27-24.
Asheville kept fighting to start the third quarter. A 3-pointer from Faith Adams gave Asheville a six-point lead with 7:10 to go in the quarter. However, Upstate again rallied back with a 7-0 run to pull back in front by the quarter's media timeout, 35-34. The Spartans extended that streak to 11-0 after the media timeout to force the Bulldogs to take another timeout. Like it had every other time, it seemed like Upstate gained control. Asheville fought back and got the deficit to one possession, 43-41, heading to the fourth quarter thanks to a clutch 3-pointer from Jamia Blake.
After being held to just three points in the first three quarters, Evans, the Big South's leading scorer, caught fire, scoring 14 points in the frame. Two of those points came on a layup to give Asheville a 59-57 lead with 29 seconds to go, and two more came with seven seconds to go as she knocked down a pair of free throws to ice the victory. Another key play down the stretch for the Bulldogs was Jordaynia Ivie stealing an Upstate in-bound pass with eight seconds left to give the Bulldogs the ball back in the final seconds.
Next up for the Bulldogs will be a matchup in the Big South Tournament Semifinals on Saturday, where they will take on second-seeded Longwood. Longwood played its first game of the tournament earlier on Thursday, where it upended Hampton by a score of 70-61. Tip-off for that game is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN+.
Kai Carter led the way for Asheville in Thursday's win with 23 points and seven rebounds. After being held quiet for the first three quarters, Nadiria Evans caught fire late and finished with 17 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists.
"Just proud of all of our players," said Head Coach Honey Brown said afterward. "We had some players come off the bench and hit some big shots in Jamia Blake and Maliyah Lockett at critical times, along with Nadiria and Kai being steady. I can't be more proud of this group. We talk about resilience and hanging with it, which we did in our last game against North Carolina A&T in the fourth quarter. I believe our players have bought into that, and we got some big stops when we needed them."
HOW ABOUT THAT DUB?!?!!!!! LET'S GOOOOO!!!!!!#FEO #ALLinAVL #BigSouthWBB #ThisIsMarch pic.twitter.com/ek3pRgye8T
— Asheville Women's Basketball (@UNCAvlWBB) March 4, 2022
In the opening minutes of Thursday's contest, Asheville and USC Upstate traded buckets early on. The Bulldogs swung the momentum back in their direction with a 7-0 run, which was partly fueled by a key four-point play from Kai Carter. However, Upstate was able to claw back and tie the score at 12, heading to the second frame.
As the second quarter began, USC Upstate began the frame clicking hitting four straight field goals. Asheville took a timeout in an attempt to regroup, and it seemed to do the trick. Over the final four minutes of the first half, the Bulldogs rattled off an 8-0 run. The sudden spark from Asheville came via makes from Carter, Evans, Amanda Blake, and Jamia Blake. Thanks to this run, the Bulldogs held the halftime lead, 27-24.
Asheville kept fighting to start the third quarter. A 3-pointer from Faith Adams gave Asheville a six-point lead with 7:10 to go in the quarter. However, Upstate again rallied back with a 7-0 run to pull back in front by the quarter's media timeout, 35-34. The Spartans extended that streak to 11-0 after the media timeout to force the Bulldogs to take another timeout. Like it had every other time, it seemed like Upstate gained control. Asheville fought back and got the deficit to one possession, 43-41, heading to the fourth quarter thanks to a clutch 3-pointer from Jamia Blake.
After being held to just three points in the first three quarters, Evans, the Big South's leading scorer, caught fire, scoring 14 points in the frame. Two of those points came on a layup to give Asheville a 59-57 lead with 29 seconds to go, and two more came with seven seconds to go as she knocked down a pair of free throws to ice the victory. Another key play down the stretch for the Bulldogs was Jordaynia Ivie stealing an Upstate in-bound pass with eight seconds left to give the Bulldogs the ball back in the final seconds.
Next up for the Bulldogs will be a matchup in the Big South Tournament Semifinals on Saturday, where they will take on second-seeded Longwood. Longwood played its first game of the tournament earlier on Thursday, where it upended Hampton by a score of 70-61. Tip-off for that game is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN+.
Team Stats
UNC-A
USCU
FG%
.414
.453
3FG%
.500
.235
FT%
.636
.714
RB
31
36
TO
9
16
STL
9
2
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
4
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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