ASHEVILLE, NC—With Erica Williams scoring from all over the floor, Winthrop's women played host UNC Asheville even for the first 24 minutes of the game, but the Bulldogs used a 16-2 run to close the third quarter and went on to claim a 71-55 Big South Conference win Tuesday night at Kimmel Arena.
                                       
The loss extends Winthrop's losing streak to eight games in a row and drops the Eagles to 2-25 overall and 1-14 in conference play.  UNC Asheville, which entered the season favored to defend its 2016 title, is now 13-13 overall and 7-8 in the league.
 
Williams, who leads the Big South in scoring, scored 13 of Winthrop's first quarter points and had 18 of her game-high 26 points by halftime.  Her offensive production gave the Eagles a 17-14 lead after the first quarter and it took a 3-pointer by Asheville's Khalia Webb just before the buzzer to give the Bulldogs a 33-32 lead at intermission.  Big South preseason Player of the Year Chatori Major kept the Bulldogs in the game with 16 points in the first 20 minutes.  She finished with a team-high 22 as she scored her 1,000^th career point in the first quarter.
 
A 3-pointer by Williams with 6:54 left in the third quarter tied the game at 40-40, but the Eagles did not score again until Williams worked inside for a hard-earned bucket with 2:20 left in the period.  Meanwhile, UNC Asheville outscored the Eagles 16-2 over the final six minutes and eight seconds to take a comfortable 56-42 lead into the final quarter.  Bronanza Fitzgerald, who did not score in the first half for the Bulldogs, played a key role in the run as she scored five quick points to help Asheville open up the lead.
 
For the second consecutive game, Winthrop showed an offensive spark to begin the game.  The Eagles jumped out to a quick lead on a 15-foot jumper by Williams and extended the lead to as many as six points when the Winthrop senior converted an old fashion three-point play to make it a 13-7 game with 5:31 left in the first quarter.
 
Winthrop continued to play a solid game on both ends of the floor in the second quarter.  A 3-pointer by Williams with just over six minutes left in the first half gave the Eagles a 28-23 lead but Major and Webb split the last 10 points of the quarter to give the Bulldogs the one-point lead at halftime.
 
After connecting on 14 of 30 field goal attempts in the first half, Winthrop cooled off in the second half and made only 10 of 30 shots.  UNC Asheville went 14 of 32 in the first half and then made 11 of 22 in the third quarter.  The Bulldogs finished the night by connecting on 27 of 64 shots, including seven of 19 from behind the arc.  Asheville also made 10 of 16 free throws compared to three of five for Winthrop.
 
Winthrop will return home on Saturday as it looks to snap the losing streak against Liberty at 1 p.m.