Lady Bulldogs Set For Conference Opener Against Liberty on Saturday at 3 p.m.
December 31, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - Gardner-Webb wrapped up its non-conference slate on Wednesday night with a 72-58 win over Longwood, putting the Lady Bulldogs at 11-2 overall. GWU will now set its sights on the Big South Conference opening up Big South Conference play with a home game against the Liberty Lady Flames on January 2, at 3 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena.
The contest will be the first between these two teams since Liberty
escaped the Lady Bulldogs with a one point win in the 2009 Big
South Conference Championship game last March.
Saturday afternoon's contest will be the first time since 1998-99
that the two teams who met in the previous year's Big South
Tournament championship game, Liberty vs. Gardner-Webb in 2009,
have opened conference play against each other. Ironically, that
year Coach Reeves led Liberty past UNC Asheville on the road,
71-56, January 9, 1999.
The Lady Bulldogs' hot 11-2 start has received some national
attention, as Gardner-Webb received 11 votes in this week's
ESPN/USA Today Top-25 Coaches Poll (December 29). This week's
results marks the fourth week in a row in which the Lady Bulldogs
have received votes in the national coaches poll this season, with
11 votes being the highest that GWU has every received.
The Lady Bulldogs have had consistency in the scoring column all
season long by a number of its players. Senior forward Margaret
Roundtree has scored in double figures in 10 out of the Lady
Bulldogs 13 games this season, while junior guard Courtney Epps has
poured in 10 points or more in nine games in 2009-10. Gardner-Webb
has had at least one player score in double figures in every game
this season. In fact, the Lady Bulldogs have had at least two
players score in double figures in the each game thus far this
season. GWU has also had 10 different players score double-digit
points at least once in a game thus far this season.
Gardner-Webb has four players averaging double-digit points thus
far this season in Courtney Epps (11.5 ppg), Margaret Roundtree
(11.5 ppg), Dominique Hudson (10.2 ppg) and Monique Hudson (10.2
ppg). Redshirt-junior center Sandra Vaitkute is sitting close to
the double-digit mark, as she is averaging 9.1 ppg.
Over the last two seasons, Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs,
N.C. has truly become a home for the Lady Bulldogs, as GWU is 18-3
in its last 21 home games. Last season, the Lady Bulldogs were
superb at home posting an 11-2 home record at the friendly confines
of Paul Porter Arena. Gardner-Webb won its first nine home
contests last season, the Lady Bulldogs longest home winning streak
since moving to NCAA Division I in 2000-01. This season GWU is 7-1
at home, having lost its home opener versus Houston on November
13th.
Liberty, who was picked as the preseason favorites in the preseason
coaches and media poll, is 7-3 on the season, with two of those
losses coming on the road.
However, Liberty's three losses have come by way of three very
challenging opponents in James Madison, who is now ranked No. 25 in
both national polls, Auburn of the SEC and No. 23/21 Virginia of
the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Lady Flames are relentless on the defensive end, as Liberty is
holding its opponents to 49.6 points per game on 33.3 percent
shooting from the floor. Liberty is also outrebounded its
opponents by 12 rebounds per game and force its opponents into 21.2
miscues per contest, largely by way of its 10.8 steals per game
average.
Redshirt-guard Devon Brown leads the way offensively, as the 5-10
guard is averaging 18.1 points per game on 51.5 percent shooting
from the floor. Brown is also hauling in a team-high 8.4 rebounds
per game, while key returners Amber Mays and Avery Warley are both
contributing on both ends of the floor. Mays is averaging 9.5
points, 4.2 assists and 3.1 steals per game, while down low Warley
is averaging 9.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest. Liberty,
which has four players shooting over 50 percent from the field thus
far this season, has six players that average over 20 minutes of
action per game.
Gardner-Webb is 0-3 against the Liberty Lady Flames since 2001,
with all three losses coming last season. In the two teams' first
matchup on January 3, 2009, Liberty defeated GWU 55-44 in
Lynchburg, Va., in both teams' conference opener. Gardner-Webb
hosted Liberty on February 9, 2009, yet had its home game-winning
streak snapped at nine, as the Lady Flames held off GWU for the
58-51 win. In the third matchup on the year, which was the 2009
Big South Conference Tournament Championship game, a last second
shot by GWU rolled off the left side of the rim, allowing Liberty
to escape with the 51-50 win.
All of the home Lady Bulldog games will be video streamed by the
Big South Network and can be viewed by going to www.bigsouthsports.com.
Live stats will also be available at www.GWUsports.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 14 Notes: Liberty vs. Gardner-Webb (Big South Conference Opener) |
