GREENSBORO, NC – Jasmine Byrd scored a career-high 27 points to lead UNC Greensboro to a 74-46 season opening victory over UNC Wilmington in women’s basketball action Sunday afternoon at Fleming Gymnasium.
Byrd, a senior guard from Dumfries, VA, finished 11-14 from the field including 4-5 from beyond the three-point arc. She also added two steals and three assists.
Junior guard Kristen Boone tallied a double-double, recording a career-high 11 steals and 10 points for the Spartans. The Upper Marlboro, MD, native also collected three assists in the victory. Boone, who has recorded the top two single-season steal totals in school history in her first two seasons, narrowly missed the single-game record. Her 11 steals were one shy of a school record set back in the program's NCAA Division III era by Ruby Smith against Greensboro College on Dec. 9, 1986. It was the most by a Spartan in the school's 16 seasons as a Division I member.
Freshman Ashley Ling and senior Irene Otamiri contributed eight points each for the Spartans.
Lori Drake was the only Seahawk in double figures, finishing with 11 points and seven rebounds. Alex Stewart and Sahsha Taylor each contributed nine points. Steward and Becca Papach pulled down six rebounds for UNCW.
The Spartans, the pre-season favorites in the Southern Conference, were opening the season at home for the first time since 1994. UNCG has opened the season on the road each of the last 12 seasons.
The Seahawks' only lead came in the opening minutes of play when they led 5-4 at the 16:31 mark. However, UNCG went on a 16-7 run to make it 20-12 at the 8:17 minute mark. The Spartans closed out the first half shooting 52.2 percent (12-23) from the field and led 38-24 going into the intermission.
After UNCW scored the first two points of the second half, the Spartans rattled off the next six points to make it 44-26. UNCW never got any closer than 12 the rest of the way as UNCG shot 46.4 percent from the field in the second half, including 60 percent from three-point range. The Spartans' largest lead of the game was 28 points, which happened in the final 3:17 of the game.
The Seahawks turned the ball over 35 times, which resulted in 27 steals and 42 points for the Spartans.
UNCG travels to Buies Creek, NC, to take on Campbell on Friday. Tip-off is set for 7 pm.
AGATE
UNCG 74, UNC WILMINGTON 46
UNC WILMINGTON
Drake, 4-7 2-2 11; Taylor, 4-6 1-3 9; Stewart, 3-5 3-4 9; Papach,
3-5 1-3 7; Luksyte, 2-8 0-0 5; Sawhook, 1-1 0-0 3; Stranges, 0-1
2-2 2; Fernald, 0-3 0-0 0; Lawrence, 0-0 0-0 0; Smith, 0-3 0-0 0.
Totals 17-39 9-14 46.
UNCG
BYRD, 11-14 1-1 27; BOONE, 3-5 4-6 10; LING, 3-3 2-2 8; OTAMIRI,
2-8 3-4 8; LATHAM, 2-8 2-3 7; GRIMSLEY, 1-2 0-0 3; GIRSTAUTAITE,
1-2 1-4 3; MULLINS, 0-0 2-2 2; FRAZIER, 1-5 0-0 2; HYSON, 1-1 0-0
2; DIXON, 0-2 2-4 2; BROOKS, 0-1 0-0 0; CHAMBERLAIN, 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 25-51 17-26 74.
Halftime: UNCG 38-24. 3-point goals--UNC Wilmington 3-9 (Sawhook, 1-1; Luksyte, 1-3; Drake, 1-3; Papach, 0-1; Smith, 0-1), UNCG 7-11(BYRD, 4-5; OTAMIRI, 1-3; GRIMSLEY, 1-2; LATHAM, 1-1). Fouled out--UNC Wilmington-Stewart, Alex; Smith, Shade, UNCG-None. Rebounds--UNC Wilmington 35 (Drake, 7), UNCG 27 (OTAMIRI, 6). Assists--UNC Wilmington 12 (Smith, 2; Lawrence, 2; Luksyte, 2; Sawhook, 2; Fernald, 2), UNCG 15 (LATHAM, 5).Total fouls--UNC Wilmington 25, UNCG 18. Technical fouls—UNC Wilmington-None, UNCG-None.
- UNCG -