CARROLLTON, Ga. – A new year of UWG women's basketball will tip off on Friday afternoon for the first of two games at The Coliseum this weekend.
The Wolves will host Albany State on Friday at 2 p.m. while turning around at 2 p.m. on Saturday for a showdown with Tuskegee as part of the GSC/SIAC Crossover in Carrollton.
Tickets for the general public to the GSC/SIAC Crossover are available on a game-by-game basis or for the entire weekend. Single-game tickets are $10 and the two-day pass is $20.
LAST TIME OUT
West Georgia unofficially opened the season with an exhibition on October 30 against SEC foe Auburn, falling 77-49 at Neville Arena.
Aliyah Washington led the scoring efforts with nine points while graduate transfer forward
Jada Powell had eight points to go with a team-high nine rebounds. Another newcomer in the paint,
K'Nari Holliday, had eight rebounds in the exhibition contest.
SERIES HISTORY
Friday's season opener marks the 12th meeting between West Georgia and Albany State. The Wolves lead the series 10-1 with ASU's only win coming in 2017-18.
UWG and Tuskegee meet on Saturday for the 20th time and UWG leads that series 11-8.
SCOUTING ALBANY STATE
The Golden Rams are coming off of an 8-18 campaign a season ago, finishing 6-13 in SIAC play. Head Coach Robert Skinner begins his 32
nd season at Albany State and has 11 newcomers on the roster. Chelsea Hill, who was captain for ASU last season, is the only full-time starter back and she scored 4.8 points per game last season.
SCOUTING TUSKEGEE
The defending SIAC Champions await the Wolves on Saturday after taking on West Alabama on Friday at The Coliseum. Tuskegee went 26-4 last season, reaching the NCAA Tournament where they fell to top-seeded Tampa in the opening round.
The Golden Tigers lost their top three scorers from that team with Brittney Bolin serving as the top returning scorer after averaging 10.2 per contest last season.
SCOUTING WEST GEORGIA
Head Coach
Joanna Reitz has eight newcomers on her 2023-24 squad, but one fans will recognize some familiar faces, highlighted by
Aliyah Washington. The reigning GSC Freshman of the Year is back for a sophomore campaign after leading the team with 11.2 points per game last season.
The Wolves lost production on the glass to graduation, but the addition of
Jada Powell and
K'Nari Holliday should bode well down low for the Wolves. Powell, a graduate transfer was the top rebounder in her league as a freshman at Des Moines Area Junior College. Holliday, the Sunshine State Freshman of the Year at Barry last season, shot 59.7 percent from the field and pulled down nearly three rebounds per game in just 12 minutes per contest.
The front court will return
Katelyn Dunning but also includes some offensive firepower in
Zuriyah Davis and defensive standout
Mykah Anderson. Davis was fifth in all of the NJCAA last season at East Georgia, averaging 21.6 points per game while Anderson was a JUCO All-American and League Defensive Player of the Year at Mesa Community College.
WEST GEORGIA IN SEASON OPENERS
With a win on Friday, West Georgia would start a season 1-0 for the first time under Reitz, and give the Wolves the first 1-0 start as a program since the 2020-21 season.
It's just the fourth time since The Coliseum opened in 2009 that the Wolves will open a season at home. The Wolves a 1-2 in season openers in the building with the last season opening game at The Coliseum coming in 2016.
All-time, West Georgia is 25-19 in season openers.
FULL CROSSOVER SCHEDULE
West Alabama and Tuskegee open their campaigns at 12 p.m. from The Coliseum on Friday, November 10 prior to UWG and Albany State at 2 p.m.
On Saturday, the action begins once again at 12 p.m. with Albany State and West Alabama with the Wolves taking on Tuskegee at 2 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
All UWG home basketball games and all Gulf South Conference basketball will stream exclusively on FloSports in 2023-24. Fans can sign up for a subscription here.
Fans can also follow the action via live stats or on social media.
