ASHEVILLE, NC—Aliyah Kilpatrick's layup with 18 seconds left in the game lifted Winthrop to a 57-54  Big South Conference victory on Saturday as the Eagles held off a late charge by UNC Asheville on the road at Kimmel Arena.

The win was the eighth straight for the Eagles on the Bulldogs' home floor and gives Winthrop a sweep of the regular season series and improves the all-time series to 39-28. Winthrop is now 9-5 in the league and 13-10 overall while Asheville falls to 6-9 and 7-17. 

Winthrop led the entire game, but could not shake the pesky Bulldogs who trailed by as many as 11 points twice in the first half and were down by nine at 51-42 with 6 minutes, 25 seconds left in the game before getting as close as one point inside the final minute.

After leading by two at halftime (28-26), Winthrop opened up a nine point lead in the first five minutes with an 11-4 run.  Erica Williams, the leading scorer in the game with 17 points, scored six of the first nine points in the second half. 

Winthrop extended the margin to 10 at 41-31 on a layup by Kilpatrick with just over 14 minutes left to play, but Asheville responded with six points in the next three minutes to cut the Eagle lead to four at 41-37.  The Eagles were up by five points at 47-42 when Williams took an outlet pass at half court from Nunn and went the distance for a layup, and then followed that with a 3-point play to make it 51-42 to set up the frantic final six minutes.

Asheville got to within a single point after Chatori Major made one of two free throws with 32 seconds left to make it a 55-54 game.  Winthrop got the ball to Kilpatrick in front court and she was able to drive the right side to score what proved to be the game-clinching basket.  A 3-point attempt by Tianna Knuckles was just short with two seconds left.

"We were very fortunate to win the game," said Winthrop head coach Kevin Cook. "It was a great effort by Asheville.  I thought a lot of individuals made key plays and in the end we won and that is the bottom line.

In discussing Kilpatrick's game-clinching layup, Cook said, "She just has a knack of making tough shots under pressure and she delivered again.  I'm just glad she's on our side."

Kilpatrick finished the game with 14 points on 7 of 13 shooting while Schaquilla Nunn recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go along with six blocked shots.  She entered the game ranked 9th in the NCAA block shot statistics with 3.77 per game. Major was the only Bulldog to finish in double figures as she came off the bench to score 15.

Winthrop got out to an early 18-7 lead thanks to the offense from Kilpatrick and Samiya Wright, who combined to score 14 of the first 18 points.  Kilpatrick's back-to-back layups put the Eagles up 6-1 after 3 minutes, 47 seconds.  Wright then scored the next eight points, including a four-point play that pushed the lead to nine at 14-5 at the 12:36 mark.  Kilpatrick drove the lane to make it 16-5 just seconds later and then Jimecheia Banks scored on a layup to push the lead to 18-7 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the first period.

Asheville then outscored the Eagles 7-0 on buckets by KJ Weaver, Knuckles and Shonese Jones to get to within four points at 18-14.  Winthrop answered with a 10-4 run over the next three minutes to lead 28-18 following a layup and a 15-footer by Nunn with 5:02 left, but the Eagles went scoreless in the final five minutes as Asheville closed out the half with a 8-0 run, fueled by Major who scored six points on three straight possessions, to trail by two points at the break.

Winthrop's defense was again a key in the win as Asheville shot just 32 percent overall on 21 of 64 shots and was 3 of 14 from beyond the arc.  The Eagles also blocked 10 shots,, led by Nunn's six.  Offensively, the Eagles shot 44 percent (26-59).

Winthrop will return home on Tuesday night to face High Point at 7 p.m. as the Eagles try to gain a split of its regular season meetings.