UNCG (3-7, 0-2 SoCon) vs. Samford (8-3, 3-1 SoCon), Monday, Dec. 21, 12 noon
Video: Spartan All Access
LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com
Storylines
- UNC Greensboro hosts Samford in a matinee on Monday as the Spartans seek their first Southern Conference win of the season.
- Monday's game was scheduled to be held in conjunction with UNCG's "Education in the World of Sport" clinic, but the clinic was cancelled due to inclement weather and UNCG's delayed opening Monday morning. Roughly 600 fifth-graders and administrators from nine Guilford County elementary schools were to take part in the clinic prior to the game.
- The Spartans have teamed up with FOX8 for a food drive to benefit the Salvation Army on Monday. Fans who donate a nonperishable food item will gain free admission to the contest.
- The Spartans fell to 10-time defending SoCon champion Chattanooga on Saturday, 67-54. Despite shooting just 17.6 percent from the floor in the second half, UNCG cut a 13-point second-half deficit to two points twice before the Lady Mocs put the game away. Lakiah Hyson and Amanda Leigh shared team-high honors with 14 points each, while sophomore Sarah Folwell scored a career-high 11 points. Hyson flirted with her first career double-double, as she had a team-best eight rebounds.
- Through 10 games, Hyson leads UNCG in scoring with 11.3 points per game, while Leigh is second at 10.3. Hyson has been UNCG's leading scorer six times already on the season, including each of the last five games (three solo, two shared). She has scored in double digits in five straight games for the first time in her career. Agne Girstautaite leads the club in rebounding with 4.6 per contest, while Hyson leads the Spartans with 2.1 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
- Leigh, who led UNCG with 45 3-pointers last season, is on pace to blow that mark away this year. With 24 through UNCG's first 10 games, she is hitting 2.4 3s per game. The Spartans have 28 regular-season games and are guaranteed at least one game in the SoCon tournament, meaning Leigh is on pace to hit nearly 70 triples this season.
- UNCG's game against Samford caps a three-game homestand and is the Spartans' third contest in six days.
- The Spartans are in the midst of a brutal stretch against league foes. UNCG's first five SoCon games this season are against the top five teams in the league. After opening with College of Charleston (currently first place) on Dec. 5, UNCG will face Chattanooga (fifth place), Samford (third), Georgia Southern (second) and Davidson (fourth) in consecutive games.
- After just missing a school record for lowest opponent scoring average last season (59.9 points allowed per game), UNCG is allowing its opposition to score 68.6 points per game thus far in 2009-10. UNCG has held an opponent to less than 60 points just twice this season, against Charleston Southern (L, 56-54), and against N.C. Central (W, 70-57).
- Samford and UNCG split a pair of regular-season meetings last season before the Bulldogs ousted UNCG in the second round of the SoCon tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn. The teams had not met before last season, meaning Samford leads the series 2-1.
- Samford is off to a 3-1 start in league play (8-3) overall, having taken wins over Chattanooga, Wofford and Elon. Furman handed the Bulldogs' their lone league loss thus far.
- The Bulldogs dropped Elon on Saturday, 72-63. Paige Anderson paced four Samford players in double digits with 19 points off the bench. Emily London had 18 points, while Savannah Hill had 16 and Hannah Dawson 11.
- London leads Samford with 14.3 points per game, while Hill is also in double figures with 12.6. Monica Maxwell leads the team in rebounding with 5.4 per game. London paces the squad in steals with 1.8 per game, while Hill leads the team in assists with 2.8 per contest.
