PREVIEW: Women’s Basketball faces ranked test again vs. #23 North Georgia

Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College women's basketball team makes a quick turnaround on Monday with their second straight nationally ranked opponent, facing 23rd-ranked North Georgia at Goodman Arena at 11 a.m. Monday morning.

THE MATCHUP

- Who: #23 North Georgia (8-0, 1-0 PBC) at Catawba (7-4, 5-3 SAC)

- When: Monday, Dec. 16, 11 a.m.

- Where: Goodman Arena, Salisbury, N.C.

- How to follow: FloSports ($) | Live stats

THE HISTORY

- The all-time series is tied 2-2

- The Catawba Indians were victorious in the only previous meeting in Goodman Arena in December 1989

- Terence McCutcheon is 0-1 all-time against the Nighthawks, falling in Dahlonega a season ago

FAB FRESHMAN

- Bailee Goodlett scored a team-high 12 points in Saturday's loss to 10th-ranked Carson-Newman

- The Salisbury native turned in her fourth straight game scoring in double figures and seventh overall on the season

- Goodlett currently leads the South Atlantic Conference in three-point percentage with a 55 percent clip, knocking down 11 of 20 long-range attempts

STARTING A NEW STREAK

- Catawba saw its 33-game regular season home win streak come to an end on Saturday in the 67-49 loss to Carson-Newman

- The Catawba Indians had not lost a regular season home game since February 2022

- The team went undefeated 18-0 at home during the 2022-23 national semifinal season and carried the streak into the '24 NCAA Tournament

YEAR IN REVIEW

- The Catawba Indians enter the North Georgia matchup 12-2 in Goodman Arena in the calendar year

- Key victories included 2024 SAC Tournament champion Wingate, Southeast Regional finalist Carson-Newman, UNC Pembroke, Lenoir-Rhyne and Lincoln Memorial twice

- Memorable individual moments including Lyrik Thorne becoming the program's all-time leading scorer, Jada Porter's 6-for-6 shooting night from three-point range vs. Wingate, Thorne's career-high 38 in the win over Carson-Newman with a game-ending wedgie on the Eagles' try for a tie, clinching the 2023-24 SAC regular season title, hosting a regional for the second straight year and winning another NCAA Tournament game and earning Terence McCutcheon's 100th career victory

SCOUTING THE NIGHTHAWKS

- Legendary head coach Buffie Burson has North Georgia nationally relevant yet again to start the 2024-25 season, entering Goodman Arena riding an unblemished 8-0 record to open the season and ranked 23rd in the WBCA national poll

- The eight straight wins to start the season included a 64-56 win over 16th-ranked Nova Southeastern

- UNG is led in scoring by graduate students Caroline Martin and Emily Trushel

- Both Martin and Trushel competed in the 2023 NCAA Southeast Regional; Martin scored 16 in the Nighthawks' opening round loss to Wingate, while Trushel scored seven points in 37 minutes for USC Aiken in the Pacers' first round loss to Georgia Southwestern

- Trushel scored a team-high 21 in North Georgia's win over 3rd-ranked Catawba in Dahlonega last season

UP NEXT

- Catawba wraps up game action in the 2024 calendar year on Wednesday, traveling to Newberry for a 5:30 p.m. tip