Winthrop women set for showdown with Gardner-Webb

The Winthrop women’s basketball team will return home on Saturday to face rival Gardner-Webb in an early Big South Conference showdown is set for 1 p.m. at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Winthrop’s lone victory this season came one week ago when it ran away from N.C. Central for a 62-39 victory. Coach Kevin Cook is hoping the familiar surroundings and home court will be just what the doctor ordered for his young squad that is 1-6 overall and 0-1 in the Big South after last Tuesday night’s 54-51 loss at Charleston Southern.

GWU is coming off a big 61-57 home win on Wednesday over preseason Big South favorite Liberty. The Runnin’ Bulldogs are now 5-1 and also own a signature road win over then-No. 10 North Carolina 66-65 in their season opener.

Winthrop and GWU will be meeting for the 20th time. The Bulldogs own an 11-8 lead in the series, following last season’s series sweep. Over the last five year, the series has been dead even as the two schools are 5-5. Winthrop and GWU have also split the previous eight meetings at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Big South home openers have been good for Winthrop as the Eagles have won six straight in the friendly confines of the Winthrop Coliseum and eight of the last 10.

Junior forward Erica Williams has now scored in double figures in 21 straight games. She kept streak alive with 19 points at Charleston Southern. The Rex, Georgia native is now averaging 17 points to lead the Eagles in scoring.

Winthrop’s big issue through the first seven games has been field goal shooting. The Eagles had a horrible shooting performance during the second and third quarters of the Charleston Southern game that saw the Eagles miss 24 straight FG attempts.

Winthrop did not make a field goal during the entire third quarter going 0 for 17.

The Eagles can take solace, however, in knowing they are not the only team to suffer through this kind of shooting futility under the new quarter format. It has also happened to six other schools – UT Arlington (0-7 vs. No. 5 Baylor on Nov. 13), Northwestern State (0-15 on Nov. 18 to No. 11 Texas), Savannah State (0-14 at Florida on Nov. 24), Edward Waters (0-9 at Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 24), and Cincinnati (0-15 vs. No. 5 Baylor on Nov. 26).

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Winthrop women set for showdown with Gardner-Webb."