ROCK HILL, S.C. – Winthrop continues Big South play by hosting the High Point University Panthers tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. Winthrop will then travel to face the conference-leading Runnin Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb University on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

Game Information - Winthrop (3-13, 1-4)
Opponent/Date/Time/Location High Point (6-10, 4-2) | Wednesday, Jan. 18 | 6:00 p.m. | Rock Hill, S.C. / (Winthrop Coliseum)
Gardner-Webb (14-4, 6-0) | Saturday, Jan. 21 | 2:00 p.m. | Boiling Springs, N.C. / (Paul Porter Arena)
Live Stats    High Point | Gardner-Webb
Live Stream High Point | Gardner-Webb
Social Media  Twitter - @WinthropWBB / @WUEagles | Instagram - winthropwbb | #ROCKtheHILL | #EverStand
 
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS HIGH POINT
Winthrop and Radford meet for the 57th time with the Panthers leading the series, 34-22. The two teams met for the first time on Feb. 14, 1970 with the Eagles prevailing 62-59 at home. The last meeting occurred on Feb. 21, 2022 with the Eagles falling by a score of 42-58. Winthrop has lost five straight and 15 of the last 18 meetings and is seeking their first win in the series since a 69-63 win at home on New Year's Eve 2019.

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS GARDNER-WEBB
Winthrop and Gardner-Webb meet for the 36th time with the Runnin Bulldogs leading the all-time series, 25-10. The first meeting occurred on Jan. 24, 1980 with Winthrop winning 82-60 at home. The most recent meeting was on Feb. 26, 2022 with Gardner-Webb winning 80-51 on their home court. The Eagles have lost the last seven and 17 of the last 20 games to Gardner-Webb and are seeking their first away win in the series since a 64-62 victory on Jan. 19, 2019.
 
A GLANCE AT WINTHROP

• Winthrop is second in the conference in steals at 141
• Winthrop is third in the conference in scoring defense at 61.2 and free throw percentage at .687
• Winthrop is fourth in the conference in offensive rebounding percentage at .328
• Winthrop is fifth in the conference in FG percentage defense at .393 and offensive rebounds at 179
• Jada Ryce is second in the conference in average minutes played at 34.9 and third in steals at 37
• Leonor Paisana is ninth in the conference in assists at 46
• Paige Powell is 10^th in the conference in scoring at 161, second in blocked shots at 18 and offensive rebounds at 57, forth in FG percentage at .459 and sixth in rebounding at 108.
• Tori Hall is ninth in the conference in blocked shots at 11
• Shamyjha Price is ninth in the conference in steals at 25 and ninth in average minutes played at 31.1
• In the 60-29 win over St. Andrew's, Winthrop set a school record for fewest points allowed in the first half since becoming a Division I member in 1986-87
• The 29 points allowed by Winthrop is the eighth-lowest for fewest points allowed in a game since becoming a Division I member in 1986-87
• Highest attended game this season was at West Virginia on Nov. 17 with 6,640 fans
• Winthrop is currently in eighth place out of ten teams in the Big South
• Ryce had an individual game-high six steals at Western Carolina on Nov. 10, leading the conference in that category
• Price had an individual game-high 22 FG attempts vs. Longwood on Jan. 7, leading the conference in that category
• Powell leads Winthrop in double-doubles this season with four
• Ryce and Powell each have a 20-point performance this season while Price has done this feat twice
• Hall has three 10-rebound performances this season while Powell has four
• Price leads the team in three-point FG percentage (.314), defensive rebounds (56),
• Powell leads the team in scoring (161), scoring average (10.7), FG percentage (.459), FG made (61), free throw attempts (66), free throws made (39), rebounds (108), rebound average (7.2), offensive rebounds (57), blocked shots (18)
• Ryce leads the team in FG attempts (10.3), steals (37) and minutes played (558)
• Ally Ross leads the team in 3-point field goal attempts (54) and 3-point field goals made (16)
• Paisana leads the team in FT percentage (.900) and assists (46)

 
The Eagles begin their season with a brand-new roster in head coach Semeka Randall Lay's third season as the permanent head coach. The team has two graduate students, two seniors, one junior, six sophomores and two freshman, with five players being transfers.
Winthrop is coming off a 6-24 (4-14 Big South) season in 2021-22 with Randall Lay in her second season as the permanent head coach. Season highlights include big victories over long-time conference rivals Presbyterian, UNC Asheville, Charleston Southern and Radford.
Randall Lay is in her third season at the permanent helm of the program after serving as associate head coach and then interim head coach. Entering her 11th season as a head coach, she has served in the same role at Ohio University (2008-13) and Alabama A&M (2013-16).

BIG SOUTH PRESEASON POLL
Winthrop was voted to finish 9th in the Big South Conference preseason poll. High Point and Gardner-Webb are the co-preseason favorites is the preseason favorite with 92 points (5 first-place votes and 4 first-place votes, respectively) while Campbell was third with 121 points and one first-place vote. They were followed by Radford (55), UNC Asheville (52), defending conference champion Longwood (51), Presbyterian (42), USC Upstate (29), the Eagles (28), and Charleston Southern (23).

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