Women's Basketball Travels Charlotte

UNC Asheville will wrap up a three game road trip on Saturday when the Bulldogs travel to Charlotte to face the 49ers at Halton Arena. The Bulldogs (2-4) have lost three straight, culminating with a tough 62-51 loss in Cullowhee to rival Western Carolina on Wednesday night. Charlotte (2-5) has performed well against some of the nation’s best, and crushed Presbyterian 72-36 on Wednesday in its only meeting with a Big South Team.

The Atlantic 10 preseason poll picked Charlotte to finish second in the conference. The 49ers are led by Aysha Jones and Shannon McCallum. Jones, a first team all-conference selection, is averaging 11.9 points per game, and had a team-high 14 against Presbyterian in only 20 minutes of work. McCallum was named to the conference’s second team in the preseason and averages 12.7 points and 6.2 rebounds. She poured in 25 points in a closely-fought overtime loss to South Carolina in November. In addition to the Gamecocks, Charlotte has played close games this season against Indiana and Duke.

Linda Aughburns led the Bulldogs on Wednesday night with 14 points and 7 rebounds, bringing her season averages to 8.5 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds. Lindsey Montgomery is also a double-double threat in the sixth man role, averaging 9.4 and 7.4. Lindsey Thompson leads the team in scoring with 10.2 points per game. Guard Kendall Shepard has also played well lately, scoring in double figures in two of her last three outings. Shepard is also the team’s assists leader, with 17.

Last season, Charlotte defeated the Bulldogs 72-50 at the Justice Center. That game was highlighted by a 19 point performance on 6-of-9 shooting from Jones. Montgomery had a strong showing for the Bulldogs in that game, with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Charlotte leads the all-time series 11-3 over the Bulldogs and has won the last four meetings.

Men's Basketball Opens Conference Play Against Gardner-Webb

UNC Asheville has struggled out of the gate this season, but both teams will enter the game undefeated in conference play when the Bulldogs travel to Boiling Springs to take on Gardner-Webb on Friday night. Asheville (0-6) is off to its worst start since the 1999-2000 campaign while Gardner-Webb (3-2) boasts a winning record, but the Bulldogs have faced a much more consistently challenging slate.

UNC Asheville’s losing streak is the result of matchups against such elite opposition as 5^th-ranked Kentucky (7-0), 11^th-ranked Tennessee (6-1), Georgia (4-2), and Charlotte (5-1), in addition to Atlantic Sun leader Campbell (4-1) and Southern Conference leader Furman (4-1). Gardner-Webb has faced a much softer early season schedule, collecting three wins over Covenant, Montreat, and Methodist. Gardner-Webb’s first loss came on November 23 at the hands of 10^th-ranked North Carolina. The Runnin’ Bulldogs put together a strong showing in the loss, and were paced by 32 points from Grayson Flittner, including a Dean E. Smith Center record nine three-pointers. Gardner-Webb dropped its second straight on Saturday, when it was pounded at home by a very good Western Carolina team.

Most of Gardner-Webb’s production comes from its strong senior class. Flittner leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.2 points per game. Australian-born center Auryn MacMillan is averaging 10.4 points and 9.0 rebounds. Guard C.J. Hailey contributes 9.0 points per game. UNC Asheville has spread the scoring around thus far. In six games the Bulldogs have had five different high scorers, with J.P. Primm the only player to lead the team twice. UNC Asheville may have an emerging leader in Primm, who averages a team-high 12.2 points per game, but needs more consistent production from its veterans. Sharpshooter Sean Smith found his scoring touch on Monday against Kentucky, knocking down six three-pointers en route to a 19 point performance. John Williams leads the team in rebounding and blocked shots, and will look to increase his output on the offensive end.

The stakes will be high on Friday as both teams look to shake off losing streaks and claim a winning record in Big South conference play. UNC Asheville is 12-1 in conference openers in the Eddie Biedenbach era, and has won its last four. The Bulldogs won both games last year against a Gardner-Webb team that played without Flittner, who missed the season with a knee injury. Matt Dickey performed well in both games for Asheville, averaging 17.5 points.

Basketball Live Updates

Check out the Athletic Department's Twitter page for live updates from tonight's women's basketball game against rival Western Carolina

Women's Basketball Preview: Western Carolina

UNC Asheville will look to get back to .500 on Wednesday night with a victory over non-conference rival Western Carolina. The Bulldogs (2-3) have dropped two in a row, including a 78-60 defeat on Saturday at the hands of USC Upstate. The Catamounts (1-5) have dropped three straight against a fierce early season slate, but came out on top in their lone contest against a Southern Conference foe.

Turnovers were a major issue in Asheville’s Saturday afternoon loss in Spartanburg. The Bulldogs turned the ball over a season-high 36 times and recorded only 9 assists. The Bulldogs shot only 34% from the field but had an excellent night on the offensive and defensive glass. Linda Aughburns led the way with 10 rebounds, Lindsey Thompson had a career-high with 8, and Kelli Riles added 7. Riles led the Bulldogs in scoring with a career-high 11 points, and Thompson contributed 10.

Through the first few games, the Bulldogs have enjoyed consistent production from Lindsey Montgomery (10.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg), Chioma Okoli (10.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg), Thompson (10.6 ppg), and Aughburns (7.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg), but a go-to player on the offensive end has yet emerge. Asheville’s rebounding success will continue to generate second chances, but to fully take advantage of those opportunities the Bulldogs will need to protect the basketball and improve their free-throw shooting (63% on the season).

Western Carolina defeated Wofford in its first conference game of the season before dropping three straight. That losing skid began with two games in the Great Alaska Shootout, where the Catamounts fell to Cincinnati and to Big South representative Coastal Carolina. Western stumbled again in its most recent outing, losing 80-63 to James Madison in Cullowhee on Sunday.

The Catamounts’ record owes mostly to a difficult non-conference schedule. Western Carolina was picked to finish 5^th in the 11-team Southern Conference this season, following a 4^th place finish one year ago. Western is led by preseason all-conference selection Emily Clarke, who is averaging 12.0 points and 5.7 rebounds. Clarke is coming off a season-high 20 points in the loss to James Madison. Sophomore guard Kaila’She Menendez averages 11.8 points per game and scored at least 20 in both Great Alaska Shootout contests. Junior guard Kendra Carroll is also averaging double figures at 10.8 points per game, and led all scorers with 18 in the Catamounts’ victory over Wofford.

Western Carolina holds a 24-13 lead over the Bulldogs in the all-time series, but the teams have split their last four meetings. Last season, Asheville defeated Western 90-71 at the Justice Center. In the last contest in Cullowhee, Western came out on top 89-74.

Go Bulldogs!!