Women's Basketball 1/9/2013 7:00:00 PM UNCGSpartans.com

Women's Hoops Kicks Off Four-Game Road Swing At Furman

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The UNCG women's basketball team hits the road for four-straight games, beginning Saturday, Jan 12 at Furman. Tipoff at Timmons Arena is slated for 2 p.m.

The Spartans still seek their first Southern Conference victory of the season as they dropped a 60-46 decision to defending league champion Samford Monday at Fleming Gymnasium. Lucy Mason, the nation's leading freshman scorer, netted 18 points in the loss.

Sophomore Jessica Collins (Raleigh, N.C./Eckerd College) joined Mason in double figures with a career-best 14 points while junior Janae' Stevenson (Columbia, S.C./Eau Claire) pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds and recorded two blocks. She is now in sole possession of third place on the program career blocks list with 90. Mason, the nation's leading freshman scorer, also knocked down a trio of three-point field goals to account for half of her offensive output.

UNCG was hampered by a poor shooting performance, knocking down less than 30 percent of its shots in each half to finish with a 27-percent showing (17-for-64 from the field). Meanwhile, Samford ended up at 43 percent as the Bulldogs fired at a 52-percent clip in the first 20 minutes. The Spartans committed fewer turnovers than the visitors, with just 11 miscues to the Bulldogs' 13, but Samford out-scored the Blue and Gold 32-10 inside the paint. UNCG won the battle on the offensive glass, racking up 17 offensive rebounds to the Bulldogs' eight. However, Samford came away with the overall edge just slightly, 44-43.

• Saturday's contest marks the 36th between UNCG and Furman with the Spartans holding a 20-15 advantage in the series. The Paladins captured all three meetings last season, but did so by just 12 combined points. Furman handed the Spartans a 63-58 loss in the first round of the 2012 Southern Conference Championship.

• In the last meeting between the programs, Breonna Patterson had a game-high 17 points for the Spartans, including eight straight in a 10-0 run that made it a one-possession game in the final minute. Janae' Stevenson joined Patterson in double figures with 10 points. Stevenson, Natalie Headley and April Carson had seven rebounds each. For Carson, who made her second career start, the total represented a career high. SoCon Freshman of the Year Brittany Hodges led Furman with 16 points, while Teshia Griswold had 14 and Raegan Thompson added 13.

• The Paladins are 5-8 overall entering the contest and 1-3 in SoCon action as they picked up their first league victory of the season Wednesday at Georgia Southern. In the 56-42 triumph, Kaitlin Murphy scored 15 points and Furman held Georgia Southern scoreless over the final six minutes of the game. Murphy, a senior guard from Memphis, Tenn., gave the Paladins a 46-40 lead with a jump shot with 8:18 remaining in the game and added another basket with 1:38 to go, part of a 10-0 game ending run by Furman, that secured the victory. Furman shot 38.2 percent for the game, connecting on 21-of-55 field goal attempts, and managed a 43-42 advantage on the boards. Murphy, who drained 5-of-10 shots, tacked on five rebounds and a pair of steals, helping the Paladins to 10 thefts in the contest.

SPEAKING OF FRESHMEN...
UNCG's seven freshmen have earned valuable playing experience this season and are responsible for over half of the Spartans' offensive output. Of UNCG's 743 points, the rookies have scored 400 (54 percent).

SCORING IS UP...
After averaging just 49.6 points per game last season, the Spartans are scoring 57.2 a contest this year. UNCG netted 71 points against Norfolk State, its most since dropping in 70 at North Carolina Central Nov. 26, 2011.

DEFENSIVE CLAMPS...
UNCG limited North Carolina Central to just 39 points in a victory at Fleming Gymnasium. The Spartans allowed their fewest amount of points in a single game since holding Fordham to 39 in a 50-39 victory at Fleming Gymnasium Dec. 13, 2008.

MAKING IT RAIN FROM RANGE...
Not only did UNCG tie a single-game program record with 12 three-point field goals against nationally-ranked Florida State, the Spartans fired at 57 percent from beyond the arc - marking their highest percentage since hitting five of seven against Chattanooga last season (Jan. 28, 2012).

LUCKY NUMBER 7(0)...
Over the last four seasons, UNCG is 20-1 when scoring at least 70 points. The Spartans' last loss when scoring 70 was nearly five years ago, Dec. 20, 2007, when UNCG lost at UCF, 76-73. The Blue and Gold reached 70 points just once last year, but it turned out to be in victory as UNCG downed N.C. Central 70-53 on the road.

THREE-POINT STREAK AT 33...
UNCG has nailed at least one three-point field goal in the last 33 games and 188 of the last 189. The Spartans owned a streak of 155-straight contests with a triple until they went 0-6 at Wofford Dec. 17, 2011.

STUFFED...
Junior Janae' Stevenson is rapidly moving her way up the UNCG career blocked shots list. As a freshman, she swatted 36 shots, the fourth-most in a single season in school history. She did two better with 38 blocked shots last season. With 90 to her credit now, she is third in program career history. Stevenson blocked a career-high four shots in UNCG's 55-54 win over Georgia Southern last year. Should she maintain her current pace, Stevenson should easily surpass UNCG's career record of 121 by Rebecca Viverette (1994-98) by the time her career is over.

NEXT UP...
UNCG will make the short trip over to Alamance County Monday, Jan. 14, for a Southern Conference matchup with Elon. Tipoff at Alumni Gym is scheduled for 7 p.m.