GREENSBORO, N.C.  –  UNCG women's basketball works to a 63-47 win over visiting ETSU in this year's SoCon season opener with senior forward Te'ja Twitty and junior center Aja Boyd each tallying a double-double on the evening. 

Senior guard Nadine Soliman would claim another program title in the first quarter, hitting three of her first five attempts from the floor. Entering the contest with 665 career field goals, Soliman's three buckets in the opening 10 minutes put the native of Cairo to a total of 668 over her four years, passing former Spartan All-American Angie Polk for the all-time school record. UNCG held the visiting Bucs to just 10 points in the opening frame, while hitting 10 of 16 from the floor to take a 24-10 advantage into the first break.

ETSU would open the second quarter on a 9-2 run before the Spartans responded with a 10-0 run of their own to take a 17-point advantage. Starting center Aja Boyd scored five points and three rebounds in that period to move her totals to nine and four before the half, helping the Spartans to a 36-22 lead going into the second half. 

The visitors began the scoring in the second half at the 9:49 mark but would have to wait another eight minutes and 29 seconds before converting their second bucket of the period, with the Spartans reeling off 10 unanswered points. An 8-0 ETSU run toward the end of the quarter limited the home team advantage to 13 however, with the Spartans staying ahead 46-33, heading into the last 10 minutes. 

The Spartans showed similar endurance in the fourth as the Bucs once again started the quarter with the hot hand, pulling within as many as eight at the 7:32 mark. Boyd and Te'ja Twitty would both complete their double-doubles in the final period however, with UNCG responding with a 9-0 run of their own. While Twitty converted 3-of-4 shots for six points in the fourth, Boyd pulled down another six boards to bring her total to 14, just one shy of her career-high. 

UNCG held off ETSU for a 63-47 final to open its SoCon schedule on a win, moving the team's record to 3-1 in conference openers under Head Coach Trina Patterson. 

Three Things To Know
-- Finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Twitty's double-double is the 23rd of her career, putting her one shy of tying with Melinda Goodson (1997-2000) for a Spartan career record

-- With five field goals and 13 points, Soliman now has 670 and 1,852 for her career respectively. She is just 55 points away from tying the all-time UNCG scoring record, and is on track to reach that mark on the road at Furman

-- The Spartans forced 20 ETSU turnovers over the course of the night, scoring 17 points off those opportunities

Up Next For The Spartans
The Spartans will close out their seven-game homestand with back-to-back SoCon contests against Chattanooga and Western Carolina. UNCG has won just nine of their 54 meetings against the Mocs, but are 2-2 in the pair's last four contests

-- UNCG –