WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The UNCW women’s basketball team opened its season with a commanding 75-44 victory over Barton College on Tuesday night at Trask Coliseum, using a dominant defensive performance to secure its first win of the year.
The Seahawks controlled the game from the opening tip, jumping out to a 20-10 lead after the first quarter. UNCW added 24 points in the second quarter to take a 44-23 advantage into halftime. But it was the Seahawks’ defense that stole the show.
UNCW forced 25 turnovers and converted those opportunities into 34 points. The Seahawks held Barton to just one point in the third quarter, keeping the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly the entire period.
“I challenged them on the defensive end, and they stepped up to the challenge,” UNCW head coach Nicole Woods said.
Woods credited her team’s defensive intensity, particularly the efforts of Loghan Johnson and Tiara Thompson, for setting the tone after halftime.
“We talked about setting the tone in the first five minutes and I thought that they did that,” Woods said. “We are going to go where our defense goes this year.”
The Seahawks also dominated inside, outscoring the Bulldogs 42-16 in the paint. Offensively, UNCW had four players reach double figures. Thompson, Kimmie Hicks and Johnson each finished with 14 points, while Sienna Dauer added 10. Johnson also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds, recording a double-double in the season opener.
Woods said having multiple scoring threats will be a major advantage for the Seahawks this season.
“It’s my dream I’ve always wanted to have a team to where we have four to five player averaging double figures makes it very difficult to be able to guard when you’ve got multiple people that can hurt you,” Woods said.
Johnson said her performance reflects the work she put in during the offseason.
“That’s one of the things she wanted me to hone in on being a rebounder for this team and I’m just crashing the boards every time like I’m going to get it and I do,” Johnson said.
UNCW finished the game with 14 steals and 17 fast-break points, highlighting the team’s ability to turn defensive pressure into offensive opportunities.
Despite the 31-point victory, Johnson said the Seahawks still have room to improve.
“This was a great game for us to build off of we still have work to do, and we are going to get in the film room and watch it and apply it to our next games but I think everybody can see that we are going to put it together we are going to be fierce and we are going to defend,” Johnson said.
The Seahawks begin the season 1-0 and will look to build on their opening-night success when they host North Carolina Central on Saturday, Nov. 7, at noon at Trask Coliseum.
