CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Big South regular season champion Gardner-Webb begins its quest for an NCAA Tournament bid on Thursday morning, taking on No. 8 seed UNC Asheville at 11:30 am at Bojangles Coliseum.

The Runnin' Bulldogs (26-4) are the top seed in the tournament after posting the first 18-0 Big South regular season in conference history and are riding a program-record 18-game win streak as a result.

That streak ranks second in the nation, trailing only No. 1 South Carolina, and has seen GWU win those 18 games by an average of 17.4 points per game.

Over its last 10 games, Gardner-Webb has been particularly hot, averaging 80.1 points per game behind the All-Big South quartet of Jhessyka Williams, Lauren Bevis, Alasia Smith and Ki'Ari Cain.

Williams, the 2023 Big South Player of the Year, is the league's top scorer (18.8) and rebounder (9.5) and led the conference with 15 double-doubles this season. The Augusta, Ga., graduate student has 25 double-doubles combined over the past two seasons.

Bevis has revved up her scoring lately, leading the team over the past 10 games at 19.3 points per outing. She is shooting 52.1 percent in those games and finished the regular season as the only Big South player with more than one 30-point game.

Smith is another double-double machine and enters the postseason leading the nation in steals (108) and steals per game (3.6), while also averaging a near double-double.

That trio finished 1-2-3 in the Big South's All-Conference voting, marking the first time in the Big South's history that three teammates had finished in that order in postseason awards voting.

Cain is not to be forgotten, as the Sumter, S.C., senior may be the most important piece to the puzzle for Gardner-Webb. The consummate point guard and leader, Cain led the Big South with 4.7 assists while upping her scoring into double figures for the first time as a Runnin' Bulldogs.

She enters the Big South's premier event with 913 career points and 407 assists – with her helpers the third-best total in program history.

Head coach Alex Simmons was named Big South Coach of the Year, just the second time that a Gardner-Webb women's basketball coach had earned the honor – and first since 2010. She has now gone 64-27 in Big South play (70.3 percent) and directed one of the league's most impressive performances – ever – on the hardwood in 2022-2023.

Gardner-Webb beat UNC Asheville twice during the regular season, averaging more than 27 points per win in those meetings. The No. 8 seed did hold a lead on February 18 at halftime, but the Runnin' Bulldogs ran away with the game in the second half.

In addition to Thursday's video stream on ESPN+ (WatchESPN.com), the live radio call will be available over the air on ESPN Charlotte (730 AM).