ROCK HILL, S.C. – Winthrop continues Big South play with three games in five days by hosting UNC Asheville for a re-match with the Bulldogs on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Winthrop will then face the USC Upstate Spartans on back-to-back days, traveling to Spartanburg on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and then returning to Rock Hill for round two the next day at 2:00 p.m. The home matchup with Upstate was originally scheduled to be played on Dec. 29 as Winthrop's conference opener but was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Eagle program.
 
Game Information - Winthrop (6-16, 4-7)
Opponent/Date/Time/Location UNC Asheville (8-15, 4-8) | Wednesday, Feb. 8 | 6:00 p.m. | Rock Hill, S.C. / (Winthrop Coliseum)
USC Upstate (8-14, 5-6) | Saturday, Feb. 11 | 4:00 p.m. | Spartanburg, S.C. / (G.B. Hodge Center)
USC Upstate (8-14, 5-6) | Sunday, Feb. 12 | 2:00 p.m. | Rock Hill, S.C. / (Winthrop Coliseum)
Live Stats    UNC Asheville | USC Upstate | USC Upstate
Live Stream UNC Asheville | USC Upstate | USC Upstate
Social Media  Twitter - @WinthropWBB / @WUEagles | Instagram - winthropwbb | #ROCKtheHILL | #EverStand
 
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS UNC ASHEVILLE
Winthrop and UNC Asheville meet for the 81st time with the Bulldogs leading the series, 41-39. 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 Jan. 2, 2023 with the Eagles falling 48-54 on the road. Winthrop is seeking their second straight home victory over the Bulldogs.

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS USC UPSTATE
Winthrop and USC Upstate meet for the 27^th and 28^th time with the Eagles leading the series 13-12 as Upstate swept both matches in back-to-back fashion from the Eagles last season. Upstate won the first game on Feb. 8, 2022 by a score of 73-43 and then beat Winthrop again the next day in Spartanburg 59-47. The first meeting was on Feb. 14, 1977 with the Eagles winning 76-43 at home. Winthrop has lost their last three meetings to the Spartans, including three straight at home and two straight on the road. The Eagles will be seeking their first win in the series since a 59-54 win in Spartanburg on Dec. 17, 2020.
 
A GLANCE AT WINTHROP

• Winthrop is second in the conference in steals per game at 9.4 and scoring defense at 61.0
• Winthrop is third in the conference in free throw attempts per game at 15.0, turnovers forced per game at 17.7 and offensive rebounding percentage at .320
• Winthrop is fourth in the conference in free throws made per game at 9.8
• Winthrop is fifth in the conference in turnover margin at -1.77, field goal percentage defense at .395 and opponent FG percentage at .675
• Jada Ryce is second in the conference in average minutes played at 34.7, fourth in steals at 43 and steals per game at 2.0
• Paige Powell is second in the conference in blocked shots per game at 1.1 and offensive rebounds per game at 3.6, third in the conference in free throw attempts at 102, fourth in rebounding percentage at .464 and fifth in rebounds per game at 7.5
• Shamyjha Price is fifth in the conference in steals per game at 1.9
• 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
• Winthrop is seeking four straight Big South wins since the 2014-15 season
• Winthrop tied their season high in points, also against Longwood
• The Longwood win resulted in Winthrop's 200th all-time Big South victory
• First road win on the season for the Eagles (1-10)
• Snapped a 13-game overall road losing streak
• Powell now has 507 career rebounds
• Powell currently has career single-season highs in scoring average, rebounding average, steals, blocks
• Price is seven points away from 700 points in her career
• Price has played 100 career games
• Price currently has career season-highs in scoring average, steals, free throws made
• Ryce's 43 steals is currently the most in a single-season by an Eagle since 2018-19 when Anika Riley had 46 – before that it was Erica Williams with 48 (2016-17) and Danyael Goodhope with 52 (2016-17)
• Powell's nine steals 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
• The Eagles have won three straight Big South games for the first time since the 2020-21 season
• Winthrop ties their win total from each of the last two seasons
• 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 six
• 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 Powell each have a 20-point performance this season while Price has done this feat twice
• Powell has 10+ rebounds on six occasions while Tori Hall has three
• Price leads the team in free throws made (44)
• Ryce leads the team in FG attempts (219)
• Powell leads the team in scoring average (12.0), FG made (97), free throw attempts (102), free throws made (59) and defensive rebounds (83)
• Paisana leads the team in three-point FG attempts (88), three-point FG made (24) FT percentage (.875) and assists (58)
• Ally Ross leads the team in three-point FG percentage (.295)

 
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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