PEMBROKE – Following a 10-day hiatus from game action, the UNC Pembroke women's basketball squad returns to Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court Friday for a 2 p.m. tip against Belmont Abbey. It will be UNCP's final non-conference contest of the regular season. The first 150 fans through the gates will be presented with New Year's Eve paraphernalia.
 
Fans can follow the game for free via a live video stream on the UNCP Braves YouTube channel with Cameron Songer handling the play-by-play duties. The contest can also be followed via a live statistics link as well.
 

UNC Pembroke (5-3) vs. Belmont Abbey (5-3)
Date & Tip Time	Friday, December 30 at 2 p.m. EST
Location	Pembroke, N.C.. | Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court
Live Statistics	Stat Broadcast
Video	YouTube

 

• The Lady Braves (5-3) suffered a 66-55 setback to host Georgia Southwestern Dec. 19 in their last game before breaking for the holidays. The loss came on the heels of a 76-61 upset of then-No. 15 Clayton State.  
• Senior Jasmine Huntley pours in a team-best 10.9 points per game and has put together two double-doubles in the season's first eight games. The guard is averaging 4.9 boards and 4.3 assists per contest. Classmate Jonissa Monley is the team's leading rebounder at 7.3 per game and is just short of double-digits in points with 9.8 per tilt. Junior Ebone Stevens is hitting at a 46.9-percent mark from long range, the best mark in the Peach Belt Conference.
• UNCP ranks second among the 14 PBC institutions in 3-point field goal percentage (33.0) this season and also ranks third in 3-point field goals made per game (6.6). The Lady Braves are 2-1 in Pembroke this season.
• Belmont Abbey (5-3) are in the midst of a two-game losing streak with setbacks to Erskine and Coker in their last two contests. Prior to the two losses, the Crusaders rattled off five-consecutive wins. Belmont Abbey is 1-3 away from home this season.
• The Crusaders rank second in the Conference Carolinas in assists per game (13.8) and rank third in field goal percentage (40.6), free throw percentage (73.2) and opponent 3-point percentage (25.6). Belmont Abbey is averaging 65.5 points per game and boasts three players averaging at least 11 points per game. Taylor Johnson paces the Crusaders with 12.9 per contest, followed by Gabrielle Bethel (11.8) and Chrystal Ezechukwu (11.6). Ezechukwu ranks fifth in the league in field goal percentage at 50.7 and hauls in a team-best 9.0 rebounds per tilt.
• The Black & Gold hold a slim 5-4 advantage in series history over Belmont Abbey, but are winners of the last three meetings. Last season in Belmont, the Braves came away 72-51 winners behind a game-high 20 points from Monley.