PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke women's basketball team plays its final non-conference, regular season game of the season on Sunday when the Braves head west to battle South Atlantic Conference member Lenoir-Rhyne at 2 p.m. inside Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.
Fans can follow the action for free via a live audio stream on the UNCP Sports Network with
Trevor Williams handing the play-by-play duties. The game can also be followed via live video and statistics links provided by Lenoir-Rhyne.
- The Lady Braves (2-2) fell for the second-straight game last Saturday in a 61-56 affair against Peach Belt Conference foe Young Harris. UNCP led by six with just over seven minutes to play, but the Mountain Lions used an 11-0 run to take the lead for good. The Black & Gold committed a season-high 25 turnovers which turned into 30 points on the other end for Young Harris.
- Freshman Melanie Horne is averaging a team-best 13.0 points per game after a season-high 16 points at Young Harris, while also grabbing 5.7 rebounds per outing. Sophomore transfer Aliyah Farmer chips in 11.3 points per tilt and is coming off her first double-double as a Brave (13 points, 11 rebounds). Farmer's 6.8 boards per game are a team best, as is her 65.4 shooting percentage.
- Famer's field-goal percentage ranks second in the PBC, while two Braves rank among the top five in the league in 3-point field-goal percentage (Horne, 50.0 and Avery Locklear, 46.2). Alecia Hardy's 4.0 assists per game are tied for fifth in the conference and Horne's 3.3 offensive boards per outing rank eighth in the PBC.
- UNCP leads the PBC in 3-pointers made per game (8.3) and 3-pointers attempted per game (23.5), while ranking second in 3-point shooting percentage at 35.1. The Braves are slotted second in the league in free-throw percentage (74.1) and fourth in offensive rebounds per game (15.0), rebounding margin (4.8) and assists per game (16.3).
- The Braves have outscored opponents by a 275-273 margin through four games, including a 217-187 edge in quarters one, two and four. Opponents are outscoring the Black & Gold 86-58 in the third quarter.
- UNCP and Lenoir-Rhyne have met five times since 1999, with the Bears holding a 4-1 advantage in the series. Lenoir-Rhyne won the first two meetings in 1999 and 2000 and the most recent two in 2007 and 2009. The lone Braves' win in the series came in 2001, a 93-69 triumph in Hickory.
- Head coach John Haskins needs just two more victories to reach the 275-win mark for his career, which has spanned 23+ years across both men's and women's basketball at UNC Pembroke. Haskins has compiled a 273-355 (.435) record overall, including a 168-192 (.467) mark at the helm of the women's program since 2004-05.
ABOUT LENOIR-RHYNE
- Lenoir-Rhyne (6-4) has won two-straight games and four of its last five dating back to Nov. 25. The Bears took down Livingstone 96-79 on Thursday evening in Hickory. Lenoir-Rhyne led 78-41 at the end of three quarters and held a 44-22 edge in points in the paint, while shooting 57 percent from the floor in the victory.
- The Bears have eclipsed the 90-point plateau three times this season in wins against Mount Olive (90-79), Lees-McRae (98-90) and Livingstone (96-79). Lenoir-Rhyne ranks third in the SAC with 75.0 points per game, but that number improves to 86.3 per game in victories. The Bears slot second in the SAC in both field goals made per game (28.3) and assists per game (18.3).
- Madi Suddreth dominates the scoring for the Bears at a SAC-best 19.9 per game. She ranks second in the league in field-goal percentage at 60.0 (87-for-145) and has attempted 45 more shots than the next closest Bear. Suddreth also leads the team with 7.4 rebounds per game and has notched a pair of double-doubles this season. She has scored at least 20 points in five of the Bears' 10 games, including a season-high 35 against Lees-McRae on Nov. 25.
- Kendall Toineeta scores 11.6 points per game and hauls in 6.2 boars, while Kennedy Weigt chips in 10.3 points per outing. Ashley Rodriguez leads the team and ranks second in the SAC with a 50.0-percent (7-for-14) clip from behind the arc.
- Sunday's contest with the Braves is the backend of a short, two-game home stand for Lenoir-Rhyne, who is 3-3 in Hickory this season. The three home losses matches the total number from a year ago when the Bears went 11-3 in the friendly confines of Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.
