Gardner-Webb to Take On No. 11 North Carolina on Sunday Afternoon
December 10, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb women's basketball team will face perhaps its toughest challenge of the season on Sunday afternoon, as the Lady Bulldogs will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. to take on the No. 11 North Carolina Tar Heels in the Dean E. Smith Center.
The Lady Bulldogs are 8-1 thus far this season, the program's best
start since going to NCAA Division I in 2000-01, and is on a
current eight game-winning streak which marks the longest in the
program's Division I history.
Gardner-Webb made history this week, as the Lady Bulldogs received
five votes in the ESPN/USA Today Top-25 Coaches Poll, the first
time that the women's basketball program has ever received votes in
a top-25 national poll.
Coach Reeves and his squad are coming off a 57-45 win over the
previously undefeated East Carolina Lady Pirates, as the Lady
Bulldogs held East Carolina to only 45 points for the contest, its
season-low on only 29.3 percent shooting.
Gardner-Webb has five players that are averaging double-digit
points, headlined by junior twins Monique Hudson with 11.6 points
per game and Dominique Hudson at 10.9 points per game. Fellow
juniors Courtney Epps and Sandra Vaitkute are both averaging over
10 points per game, while senior Margaret Roundtree, who has scored
in double-figures six times this season, is averaging 10.2 points
per game.
The No. 11 Tar Heels are 7-1 thus far this season and were ranked
as high as No. 4 in the nation. North Carolina is a perfect 6-0 at
home and have won all six home of its home games by an average of
28.3 points per game. The Tar Heels are 4-0 against the Big South
having already defeated Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian, Charleston
Southern and Radford this season. UNC features a high scoring
offense that averages 80.6 points per game on 44.6 percent
shooting. Lucas Italee and Cetera DeGraffenreid who are averaging
15.7 and 14.6 points, respectively, lead the Tar Heels, who are
outscoring its opponents by more than 21 points per contest. On
the boards, UNC is outrebounding its opponents by close to 11
rebounds per game and are led by Laura Broomfield's eight boards
per game. Defensively, the Tar Heels know how to use both its
quickness and size, as North Carolina is averaging 11.1 steals and
6.8 blocks per game, while forcing its opponents into 26.0
turnovers per contest.
The Gardner-Webb Lady Bulldogs have never faced off with the North
Carolina Tar Heels in women's basketball action before Sunday
afternoon's contest. While the game on Sunday will be the first
ever match up between these two schools, it will be the second time
in GWU's Division I history that the Lady Bulldogs have faced off
with a nationally ranked opponent, as Gardner-Webb fell to No. 1
Maryland 83-41 in 2006-07. The Lady Bulldogs are 0-2 against the
ACC, having fallen to Maryland in 2006-07 and at Miami 65-47 in
2004-05.
Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. in the Dean E. Smith Center.
The game will be carried by WGWG 88.3 radio, while live stats will
be available at www.tarheelblue.com.
Every week throughout the 2009-10 women's basketball season, the
Gardner-Webb athletic media relations' office will produce game
notes featuring the upcoming contests and reviewing the previous
games.
Click on the pdf link below on the game notes you would like to
view.
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| Game 10 Notes: Gardner-Webb at No. 11 North Carolina |
