UNCW upends UNCG, 65-54

WILMINGTON, NC – Candace Walker scored a career-high 18 points to lead UNC Wilmington to a 65-54 victory over UNC Greensboro in non-conference women’s basketball action Wednesday afternoon at Trask Coliseum. The win gives the Seahawks four in a row, while the Spartans have dropped two straight after winning their three prior games.

Sophomore guard Kristen Boone equaled her career-high with 18 points to lead UNCG (4-5). She had eight rebounds, tied her career-best with seven assists, which she set against UNCW last season, and had a game-high six steals. Also, freshman guard Gini Grimsley added nine points off the bench in the second half.

Walker was 7-for-8 from the field for UNCW (6-2). Stephanie Fernald added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Lori Drake added nine points in the first half.

UNCG limited the Seahawks to only one field goal in the opening 10 minutes of the second half to get the Spartans back into the game after falling behind by 16 points at the break. The combination of UNCG’s full-court press and Grimsley’s nine points off the bench led to a 13-2 spurt that cut its deficit to six points, 40-34, with 9:59 remaining.

However, Fernald drilled a pair of treys on consecutive possessions to put UNCW back up comfortably, 52-38, with 6:12 left in regulation. The Seahawks would later go up by as many as 20, 63-43, on a conventional three-point play by Denise Lawrence with 2:53 showing on the clock.

UNCG scored a season-low 18 first half points to trail 34-18 heading to halftime. The Spartans shooting woes continued as they converted only 24.1 (7-for-29) percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. UNCW broke open a tight, 16-13, game by closing the half on a 20-5 run over the final 10:51. Walker and Drake led the Seahawks with seven points respectively in the run as the home team converted 50.0 (12-for-24) percent of their field goals in the half.

The Spartans led in the rebounding column, 38-31. Both teams turned the ball over 23 times and went 14-of-17 from the free throw line, led by Boone’s 8-for-9 performance.

UNCG gets back to action after its holiday break on December 31 when the Spartans visit Coastal Carolina for a 1 pm contest in Conway, SC. It will be the first time UNCG has left the state of North Carolina this year. Meanwhile, UNCW will take on Kansas State on December 29 at the St. Peter’s Holiday Classic in Jersey City, NJ.

GAME NOTES: UNCG upended the Seahawks 79-68 at Fleming Gym last December 20 in its final game before the holidays... The Spartans were 3-6 at this point last season... Boone has at least one steal in all 33 games in her career... UNCG is 0-5 when they trail at the half... Head Coach Lynne Agee remains one win shy of 525 career victories... The Spartans are 0-3 when they score less than 60 points.

AGATE
UNC WILMINGTON 65, UNC GREENSBORO 54

UNC GREENSBORO (4-5)
BOONE, Kristen 5-16 8-9 18; GRIMSLEY, Gini 3-9 2-2 9; CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 4-8 0-0 8; OTAMIRI, Irene 3-8 0-0 7; LATHAM, KaLeah 1-5 3-4 5; MULLINS, Ashley 1-1 0-0 3; JACKSON, Shanika 1-1 0-0 3; DIXON, Jasmine 0-1 1-2 1; BLAIR, Caroline 0-0 0-0 0; CURRENT, Ashley 0-2 0-0 0; BYRD, Jasmine 0-5 0-0 0; LING, Ashley 0-0 0-0 0; BROOKS, Kemena 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 18-59 14-17 54.

UNC WILMINGTON (6-2)
Walker, Candace 7-8 2-2 18; Fernald, Stephanie 6-7 0-0 16; Drake, Lori 3-6 2-2 9; Stewart, Alex 1-3 7-8 9; Vezenkova, Michaela 2-6 2-2 6; Taylor, Sahsha 2-10 0-2 4; Lawrence, Denise 1-5 1-1 3; Stranges, Bethany 0-0 0-0 0; Papach, Becca 0-1 0-0 0; Stoudt, Cydnei 0-0 0-0 0; Manson, Joy 0-0 0-0 0; Smith, Shade 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-46 14-17 65.

Halftime: UNC Wilmington 34-18. 3-point goals-UNC Greensboro 4-17 (MULLINS, Ashley 1-1; GRIMSLEY, Gini 1-5; OTAMIRI, Irene 1-3; JACKSON, Shanika 1-1; BYRD, Jasmine 0-3; BROOKS, Kemena 0-1; BOONE, Kristen 0-3), UNC Wilmington 7-14 (Fernald, Stephanie 4-5; Walker, Candace 2-2; Drake, Lori 1-2; Taylor, Sahsha 0-1; Lawrence, Denise 0-3; Vezenkova, Michaela 0-1). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-None, UNC Wilmington-None. Rebounds-UNC Greensboro 38 (BOONE, Kristen 8), UNC Wilmington 31 (Taylor, Sahsha 9). Assists-UNC Greensboro 10 (BOONE, Kristen 7), UNC Wilmington 12 (Fernald, Stephanie 4). Total fouls-UNC Greensboro 19, UNC Wilmington 20. A-385.

- UNCG -