Women's Basketball's ASUN tournament begins at Central Arkansas
Lions starts postseason play in third UCA meeting
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tarayceus Jeffries – (256) 349-8222
CONWAY, Ark. (March 6, 2024) – Postseason play begins for the University of North Alabama women's basketball team as they return to Conway, Ark. for their opening Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament quarterfinal matchup at Central Arkansas Saturday, March 9.
The No. 6 Lions are set to play in their sixth-straight ASUN championship, facing off against the No. 3 Sugar Bears for the first time in the postseason and third time this season. The game will be played at the Farris Center on the campus of Central Arkansas with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.
The winner of the contest will advance to the semifinal round on Tuesday, March 12, followed by the final on Saturday, March 16, on ESPN+ with times to be announced later on. All games will be hosted on the campus sites of the highest seeds.
Tickets are available for purchase through Central Arkansas Athletics' ticket office. Live stats will be provided courtesy of SIDEARM, and the game will be available for streaming on ESPN+. Radio will also be provided by "Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray on WLX 98.3 and 103.5 FM.
MATCHUP
Game: No. 6 North Alabama at No. 3 Central Arkansas (ASUN Tournament Quarterfinals)
Date: Saturday, March 9, 2024
Time: 7 p.m. CST
Location: Conway, Arkansas
Venue: Farris Center
TV: ESPN+
Radio: WLX 98.3 / 103.5 FM — "Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray
Live Stats: SIDEARM Live Stats
Tickets: Click here
Social Media: @UNAHOOPS
ASUN Championship page: Click here
NOTES
SCOUTING THE LIONS: North Alabama finished the regular season at 12-17 with an 8-8 record in conference play. UNA's offense ranked third in the ASUN with 68.6 points per game, ranking among the top three ASUN teams in three-point percentage (32 percent/third), three pointers per game (eight per game/second), bench points (21.4 per game/third), free throw percentage (70.9 percent/third) and team assists (14.38 per game/third). Defensively, North Alabama blocked the second-most shots in the ASUN with 105 for 3.57 per game.
SCOUTING THE SUGAR BEARS: Central Arkansas hosts the Lions after ending the regular season 19-10 with an 11-5 record in the ASUN. The Sugar Bears are a perfect 12-0 in games played at the Farris Center, the second most home wins in the ASUN behind FGCU's 15. UCA's defense is their strength, ranking first in opponent field goal percentage (36.5 percent) and opponent three-point percentage (27.7 percent) while top three in the ASUN in defensive points per game (58.5/second), team rebounds (38.1/third) and blocks (3.55/third). The Sugar Bears also are one the most efficient teams on the offensive end with a top three ranking in three-point field goal percentage (32.4 percent/second) and total field goal percentage (42.5 percent/third). Leading the scoring for Central Arkansas is Jade Upshaw with 12 points per game to rank 13th in the ASUN.
SERIES HISTORY: This marks the 13th meeting all-time between North Alabama and Central Arkansas but the first in the ASUN Tournament. The third meeting this season, UCA has taken both matchups in the regular season on Jan. 6 and March 2 with the Sugar Bears leading the series, 8-4. The two teams have split the last six meetings dating back to Jan. 24, 2022, with the last win by UNA coming in a 75-42 victory during last season's trip to Conway.
AWARDS GALORE: The Atlantic Sun Conference announced their postseason awards on Thursday, March 8, with the Lions' Rhema Pegues, Alexis Callins and Veronaye Charlton all receiving honors. Pegues received the first honor, being announced to the Academic All-ASUN team for her first career UNA accolade. Callins added on to her career year with a Third Team All-ASUN nod, and Charlton cemented her first year at UNA with a unanimous All-Freshman team selection.
POSTSEASON PRESENCE: Women's Basketball embarks on their sixth-straight ASUN Championship tournament, appearing in every tournament since North Alabama's move to Division I in 2019. UNA is 1-5 in the tournament, with their first and only win coming on May 7, 2020, in the Lions' 70-60 win over Stetson from CB&S Bank Arena.
LOOKING BACK: The Lions postseason history goes back to the Division II days, dating all the way back to 1979. When UNA was a part of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), the Lions were state champions in 1979-80, followed with a Northern Division championship in 1981-82. As part of the Gulf South Conference (GSC), North Alabama were crowned regular-season and tournament champions in 1983-84 with two East Division crowns in 1999-2000 and 2010-11. The team made it to the South Regionals in the NCAA Tournament four times, finishing as runners-up twice (1983-84 and 1984-85) with one South Regional championship (1993-94). The '93-'94 team also made program history by making it all the way to the NCAA Final Four, finishing in third in the nation.
1K MAGIC: Senior Alexis Callins became the first player to score 1,000 career points all in the Division I era against Kennesaw State on Jan 24. A four-year mainstay, she also became the 18th player in all of UNA Women's Basketball history to achieve this milestone. The all-time leader in scoring at UNA is Ivy Wallen, who scored 1,762 points over four seasons — two at the Division II level and two at the Division I level. Callins ranks 11th all-time at UNA with 1,131 points.
PACK THE BANK: Eight of UNA's wins in the regular season have come inside CB&S Bank Arena. The Lions have won by an average margin of 17 points in home contests.
NO PRESSURE: The Lions head into postseason play third in the ASUN in free-throw percentage at 70.9 percent.
CALLINS CAN SCORE (A LOT): Callins' 14.4 PPG ranks sixth in the ASUN and is on pace for a new Division I-era record at UNA for individual season scoring average. She leads the ASUN with 2.9 three-pointers per game with 84 makes. Callins' three-point game is also nationally ranked, with the senior 12th in total makes and 11th in makes per game. She also hit her 200th career three-pointer on her first shot attempt against Bellarmine on Feb. 17.
CHARLTON KEEPS IT COOL: Charlton is remaining cool, calm and collected from the charity stripe, checking in at 81.7 percent from the line, third in the ASUN and 97th nationally.
DROPPING DIMES: Senior guard Sara Wohlgemuth ranks second in the ASUN and ranks 81st nationally with 4.4 assists per game. Her 127 assists are second in the ASUN, as well, with a 77th national ranking. She is also second in the ASUN with a 1.57 assist/turnover ratio.
INDIA FROM THE BLOCK: Sophomore forward India Howard has become an intimidating presence in the paint for UNA, tied for fourth in the ASUN in blocks per game. The Coppell, Texas native finished the regular season with 27 blocks on the year with a career-high six blocks coming on Feb. 3 against Jacksonville. Howard had at least two blocks in eight games on the year, but she had late-season surge, totaling 21 total blocks in the final eight contests prior to the postseason.
MILESTONE WIN: UNA head coach Missy Tiber won her 350th career game as a head coach in the win over North Florida on Feb. 1. She has won 167 games over 11 seasons at UNA and 353 games in 24 seasons overall.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
