GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG women's basketball (2-7, 0-0), opens its Southern Conference season at home this Sunday, hosting visiting Western Carolina (2-7, 0-0) for a 2 p.m. tip-off in Fleming Gymnasium.

The Spartans have not opened the conference season against the Catamounts since 2011, when they played on the road in Cullowhee. UNCG will look to get off to conference play on the right foot for a second straight year, after beating ETSU 63-47 in 2019 to break a streak of five straight losses in SoCon openers. 

Who: Western Carolina
Where: Fleming Gymnasium | Greensboro, N.C.
When: Sunday, January 10 | 2 p.m. 
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HOW'S THEIR FORM?
-- The Spartans put on one of their best defensive performances of the past two years while scoring a season-high in a 69-37 win over visiting Converse last Sunday, bouncing back from a pair of road losses to (RV) Tennessee and Elon
-- Western Carolina had strong showings against Elon, Duke and UNC Asheville before grabbing its first win against Newberry at the start of the season. The Catamounts have since gone on a four-game losing skid in addition to having three postponements due to COVID-19 concerns. WCU just grabbed its second win of the season against Piedmont College on Wednesday, they have yet to beat a Division I team this year

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
-- The Spartans scored 50 points in the paint against Converse, with 53.7% of their points in the last three contests coming around the basket. As of January 5th, that average was the highest of any team in the SoCon since December 18th
-- After scoring 14 points in the first four games of the season combined, senior guard Tori Powell has picked up her offensive productivity over the past three weeks, pouring in an average of 12 per game in her last five appearances. She's hitting at .375 from beyond the arc in her last four games, scoring 12 of her 14 three-pointers on the season in the previous three weeks alone
-- After struggling to compete for minutes in the first four games of the season, freshman Khalis Cain earned her first career start at the collegiate level against UNCW on December 11th and has not looked back. Since that game, Cain has averaged seven points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in five appearances (all starts), scoring a career-high of 15 against Converse last week and coming within two boards of her first career double-double in that contest

SCOUTING WESTERN CAROLINA
-- Junior guard Kyla Allison scored 19 in the Catamounts' most recent matchup against Southern Wesleyan, in addition to dishing out eight assists and pulling down seven boards. She has scored in double digits in three of her last four appearances, including a 24-point performance against Georgia State
-- WCU has scored 60 or more in each of their last four games, but is giving up 68.4 points per game on defense. Western Carolina's offense (60.8) and defense both rank sixth in the Southern Conference.

SERIES HISTORY
-- Western Carolina leads the all-time series against the Spartans 38-32, but are currently on a six-game losing streak to UNCG
-- The Spartans have not lost to the Catamounts at home since February 2, 2016, when WCU came out on top in an 84-80 final

#letsgoG