Women's Basketball Faces Winthrop Saturday In Big South Road Opener
December 04, 2015 | Women's Basketball
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.- Gardner-Webb takes to the road for its first road game since the season opener at North Carolina, as well as its first confnerence road game Saturday, when it takes the short trek to Rock Hill, S.C. to face the Winthrop Eagles. Saturday's matchup will be broadcast on the Big South Network and fans can listen to all of the action as Jared Pankhurst and Brendan Boyland will be calling all of the action.
Last Time Out
The Runnin' Bulldogs took down the defending regular season and tournament champion Liberty 61-57 on Wednesday evening. It was the first victory for Gardner-Webb over the Flames since March 13, 2011, when GWU defeated Liberty 67-66 to capture the school's first ever Big South Tournament championship and earn the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Neither team shot the ball well in the conference opener, as Liberty knocked down 17-50 for 34.0%, while Gardner-Webb went 21-74 for 28.4%. Gardner-Webb used a 3/4 court trapping defense which frustrated the Flames for the majority of the evening as Gardner-Webb forced 31 tournovers by LU. Liberty out rebounded GWU 47-41, but Gardner-Webb hauled down 23 offensive boards compared to just 15 for the Flames.
Series Notes
This is the 18th meeting between Winthrop Eagles and the Runnin' Bulldogs since Gardner-Webb moved up to the Division I ranks in the 2000-01 season. Gardner-Webb owns an 11-6 record against the Eagles including a 3-4 mark inside the Winthrop Coliseum. The Runnin' Bulldogs swept both meetings against the Eagles in 2014-15.
Rebounding Prowess
A staple of Rick Reeves' team have been rebounding and since it joined the Big South in 2007-08, Gardner-Webb has ranked in the top four in the league in rebounding except the 2011-12 season.
Jump Shots
2 Wednesday's victory over Liberty was the first regular-season victory over the Flames, since GWU recorded a 70-65 on Jan 2, 2010.
2 Last season's sweep of the Eagles was the fourth time Gardner-Webb has captured both regular-season contests against Winthrop.
2 A victory over Winthrop Saturday will mark the best start to the conference for Gardner-Webb since it joined the Big South in 2008-09, and the best start through two conference games since the 2007-08 season when it won its first four conference matchups.
2 With a victory against Liberty, it will mark the first time that Gardner-Webb won its conference-opener since it defeated Charleston Southern (67-51) in the 2010-11 season
