Salisbury, N.C. — The Catawba College women's basketball team wraps up its three-game homestand on Wednesday inside Goodman Arena when it hosts in-state rival Lenoir-Rhyne in South Atlantic Conference action.
THE MATCHUP
-
Who: Lenoir-Rhyne (14-4, 10-2 SAC) at Catawba (7-10, 5-7 SAC)
-
Where: Goodman Arena, Salisbury, N.C.
-
When: Wednesday, Jan. 28, 5:30 p.m.
-
How to follow: Watch |
Live stats
THE LAST MEETING
- The Bears took a tightly contested first meeting in Hickory, 78-72
- Catawba led in the final two minutes, but the Bears finished the game on a 10-2 run to come from behind for the win
- The Catawba Indians shot 47 percent from the field and knocked down six first-half three-pointers with 44 points in the opening 20 minutes
-
Sheree Gidney led the team with 17 points;
Mary Spry was limited to nine minutes in the contest due to foul trouble
MONEY MARY
- Amidst her career-high season in scoring, Spry has stepped it up since returning from injury, averaging 26 points per game in two losses last week
- The Faith, N.C. native still leads the conference and ranks top 20 in the country with a 55.9 field goal percentage and ranks fourth in the league with 18.1 points per game
- Spry has notched seven 20-point games this season – her first four games of the season and three of her last four
EMRY'S RETURN
- Wednesday's game won't be the first time former Catawba assistant coach Emry Tsitouris has sat on the visitors' bench since leaving Catawba's staff, but it will be her first in Goodman Arena wearing red and black
- The former Mars Hill head coach took the Bears' head coaching vacancy after a successful turnaround of the Lions' program that saw them earn a SAC Tournament bid last season
- Tsitouris brought some of her standout Lions with her to Hickory, headlined by Aaliyah El, who leads LR in scoring with 18.4 points per contest
SCOUTING THE BEARS
- Lenoir-Rhyne enters Goodman Arena on Wednesday with the longest active winning streak in the SAC at nine games
- The Bears have averaged 88.6 points per game during the win streak, up from the 79 points per game from the previous nine games
- LR stands in a tie for the SAC lead heading into the game with Carson-Newman and Coker
UP NEXT
- Catawba hits the road for the first time in over two weeks on Saturday when it heads to 23rd-ranked Lincoln Memorial for a 2 p.m. tip
