ROCK HILL, S.C. – Winthrop starts the Hercules Tires Big South Conference Women's Basketball Championship at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C. by taking on UNC Asheville for the third time this season at 12:00 p.m. on Wed., Mar. 1. The Bulldogs won both matchups. Winthrop is seeded ninth and UNC Asheville is seeded eighth.
 
Game Information - Winthrop (8-21, 6-12)
Opponent/Date/Time/Location UNC Asheville (11-18, 7-11) | Wednesday, Mar. 1 | 12:00 p.m. | Charlotte, N.C. / (Bojangles Coliseum)
Live Stats    UNC Asheville
Live Stream UNC Asheville
Social Media  Twitter - @WinthropWBB / @WUEagles | Instagram - winthropwbb | #ROCKtheHILL | #EverStand
 
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS UNC ASHEVILLE
Winthrop and UNC Asheville meet for the 82^nd time with the Bulldogs leading the series, 42-39. The two teams met for the first time on Feb. 9, 1985 with the Eagles falling 58-56 on the road. The last meeting occurred on Feb. 8, 2023 with the Eagles falling 59-65 at home.
 
A GLANCE AT WINTHROP

• Winthrop is second in the conference in steals per game at 9.1 and scoring defense at 59.8
• Winthrop is third in the conference in offensive rebounding percentage at 31.5 and turnovers per game at 17.62
• Winthrop is fourth in the conference in field goal percentage defense at .396
• Winthrop is fifth in the conference in turnover margin at -1.31, offensive rebounds per game at 10.5, free throw attempts per game at 14.76
• Jada Ryce is first in the conference in average minutes played at 34.9 and fourth in steals at 54
• Paige Powell is second in the conference in offensive rebounds per game at 3.7, third in free throw attempts at 140, fourth in the conference in blocked shots per game at 1.0, and field goal percentage at .478 and fifth in rebounds per game at 7.3
• Shamyjha Price is fifth in the conference in steals at 55
• 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 ninth place out of ten teams in the Big South
• Winthrop has their most wins at this point in the season since winning 11 games in 2019-20
• The win at Upstate is Winthrop's second overall road win and conference road win on the season
• Most conference road wins and road wins overall since 2020-21, when the Eagles won three total road games
• Most conference wins in a season up to this point since 2018-19 (won six)
• Winthrop has lost the last four games
• Winthrop finishes the year 6-7 at home and 2-12 on the road
• Powell currently has career single-season highs in scoring average, rebounding average, steals, blocks
• Price currently has career season-highs in scoring average, steals, free throws made
• Ryce's 54 steals is currently the most in a single-season by an Eagle since 2016-17 when Danyael Goodhope also had 52 (2016-17)
• Ryce recorded her first double-double on the season vs. UNC Asheville on Feb. 8
• Powell's nine steals vs. Radford came within two of tying the all-time individual single game record in that category (Cassandra Barnes had 11 steals vs. Sacred Heart on Feb. 12, 1981)
• Powell's nine steals is also the most in a game since Jac'Che Whitfield has seven vs. USC Upstate on 1/10/19
• Against Upstate on the road Feb. 11, Winthrop's 19 steals leads the conference in that category
• 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 seven
• Powell had an individual game-high nine steals vs. Radford on Feb. 4, leading the conference in that category
• Powell had an individual game-high five blocks at Longwood on Feb. 1, leading the conference in that category
• Ryce and Leonor Paisana has a 20-point performance this season while Price has done it twice and Powell has done this feat three times
• Powell has 10+ rebounds on seven occasions, Tori Hall has three and Ryce has one
• Winthrop is seeking their first win in the conference tournament since Mar. 9, 2014 when the Eagles defeated High Point in the title game in Conway, S.C. by a final score of 87-74
• The win was the only time Winthrop has won the Big South Tournament and resulted in their only trip to the Big Dance, where they fell 45-87 on Mar. 22 to Duke at the world renowned  Cameron Indoor Stadium
• Winthrop has not won a conference tournament game in eight seasons

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).
 
FOLLOW US!
For all the up-to-date information on Winthrop Women's Basketball, follow along on Twitter at @WinthropWBB, Instagram at winthropwbb and Facebook at facebook.com/WinthropWBB.