CARROLLTON, Ga. - After earning a big road win on Saturday, the UWG women's basketball team returns to The Coliseum on Thursday, hosting North Florida in a 7:00 p.m. Atlantic Sun Conference contest.
West Georgia (8-5, 1-1 ASUN) went on a road trip to open league play and fell at EKU before dominating Bellarmine to get their first league win under their belt. North Florida (5-8, 0-2 ASUN) hosted Lipscomb and Austin Peay last week to open league play and fell in both games at home.
"We love playing at home, so we're excited to get in front of our home crowd," said head coach Joanna Reitz, "A lot to build on from the win at Bellarmine. I liked our tempo and I thought we were the more aggressive team on both ends, so I'd certainly like to carry that into North Florida.
In the ASUN standings, UWG is one of five teams to start 1-1 through one week of league play while Central Arkansas and FGCU both played just one game last week and each team earned a victory.
The Wolves bring in a trio of the league's top-10 scorers, led by Asia Donald who is second in the league at 16.5 points per game, just ahead of Jasmine Jones third-best average of 14.8 per game.
Sydne Tolbert, who had a career-high 24 playing in her hometown of Louisville in the win over Bellarmine, is 10th in the league at 13.3 points per game.
"We had a lot of family and friends there (at the Bellarmine game), and our players rose to the occasion," Reitz continued, "Syd is capable of that night in and night out and she's tough to guard. We weren't surprised, we see that every day at practice, but for her to do that in front of her family and friends, and her high school team was there, it was really special."
On paper, Thursday's matchup favors UWG as the Wolves have the edge in scoring offense and defense. Following a 106-point outburst at Bellarmine, UWG enters the contest averaging 73.6 points per game which is second best in the league. North Florida is 11th in the league at 61.0.
In terms of scoring defense, UWG's 64.0 points allowed per game is fifth-best in the ASUN and UNF ranks 11th in that category, allowing 74.5 per game.
Additionally, UWG comes into the game as the league's top rebounding team, pulling down 40.8 rebounds per game which just barely edges out EKU who is one of two teams to start 2-0 in league play (Austin Peay). Destiny Jones leads the team on the glass, pulling down 7.9 rebounds per game, a number that is third in the conference.
UNF's top scorer through 13 games is Dezuray McGill who scores 10.7 per game.
"They are a really solid team with a good post player in McGill with quality shooters around her," Reitz said of Thursday's opponent. "We're going to have to do a good job both defending the three-point line and the paint."
Elle Blatchford is a dangerous three-point shooter, hitting 17 three-pointers at a 45.9 percent clip this season.
West Georgia also has a big-time three-point threat in Jasmine Jones. The league's third-leading scorer ranks tops in the ASUN and fourth in all of Division I with 3.31 three-pointers made per game. For the season, she is shooting 44.3 percent on 43-of-97 from beyond the arc. That number is first in the league and 22nd in the country.
It's just the third meeting between the teams and the second as Division I opponents. The Wolves and Ospreys met just once in 2024-25, in Jacksonville, with UWG winning 79-71. In that game, UWG trailed by eight with just over one minute to play in the third, before starting a run and putting together a 35-point fourth quarter to eventually win by eight. It was UWG's first-ever road win over an ASUN foe.
Tip-time from The Coliseum on Thursday, January 8 is set for 7 p.m.
"We take a lot of pride in defending our home court. We had a great practice today preparing us to do that, and we know it's going to be tough," concluded Retiz. "It's such a great conference. There are no easy games. It took us 40 minutes to beat North Florida last year, and prepared to do 45, 50, whatever it takes, we're ready."
The game is set to be broadcast on ESPN+ with Patrick Eidson and Hunter Murdaugh on the call.
