GREENSBORO, N.C. – For the first time since 2002, UNCG women's basketball's season will continue into the postseason. The Spartans have accepted a bid to the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) and will take on Charleston Southern Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in Charleston, South Carolina. The game will be streamed live on the Big South Network.
UNCG has earned a 17-14 record, including a 7-7 mark in Southern Conference play. The 17 wins are the most for the Spartans since the 2006-07 season, while the seven conference wins are the most for the program since 2010-11.
UNCG defeated Furman 68-63 in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament before bowing out to eventual champion Chattanooga in the semifinal round. It was the first time since 2006 that the Blue and Gold advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament.
The Spartans are led in scoring by SoCon Freshman of the Year Nadine Soliman (Cairo, Egypt/Mokattam Language School), who is the leading freshman scorer in all of Division I at 16.3 points per game. Senior Bailey Williams (Harrisonburg, Va./Spotswood) adds 9.5 PPG as well as 3.9 rebounds per game and 3.4 assists per game. Freshman Te'ja Twitty (Rutherfordton, N.C./Rutherfordton-Spindale Central) has posted a double-double in four of her last five games, registering a double-dip in eight total games.
Charleston Southern will come into the contest with an 18-13 overall record, including 11-7 in Big South Conference action. The Buccaneers garnered the No. 5 seed in the Big South tournament, earning wins over Winthrop and Liberty before falling to top seed Radford in the semifinal round.
CSU is led by sophomore guard Ke'Asia Jackson, who pours in 15.3 points per game and dishes out 2.0 assists per contest. Guards Alyssa Mann and Rachel Burns are the other two Bucs who average double-figure scoring at 11.6 and 11.2 PPG, respectively. Senior forward Elyse Kiploks grabs a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game.
The 16-team WBI is in its eighth season, and will take place over two weeks with all games being played on campus sites of the highest seed.
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