Let's Play Two

WILMINGTON, N.C. – UNC Wilmington’s baseball and softball seasons are still a few months away, but that’s not stopping the Seahawks from playing a doubleheader in early November. In hoops, that is.

UNCW’s men’s and women’s basketball teams kick off their seasons unofficially with an exhibition twinbill Thursday night at Trask Coliseum. Coach Ann Hancock’s women take on Wingate, her alma mater, in a 6 p.m. contest. Coach Benny Moss and his men will follow with a matchup against Conference Carolinas member St. Andrews.

Hancock’s club returns eight letter winners and four starters this season, including CAA Preseason First-Team pick Brittany Blackwell, the circuit’s Rookie-of-the-Year in 2007-08. Hancock poured in more than 2,000 points during her career with the Bulldogs was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.

“Wingate will be a good test for us,” said Hancock. “They return the majority of their players from last year’s team. We must focus on what we do best. We need to get the ball inside and take advantage of our size. We are also going to limit turnovers and try to create fast-break opportunities.”

Wingate returns a veteran team in 2008-08, including South Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year Anna Atkinson, who led the Bulldogs to a 26-8 record and SAC Championship one year ago. Wingate, ranked 13th in the Women’s NCAA Division II Bulletin Preseason Poll, advanced to the Elite Eight last season after Atkinson was named MVP of the SAC Tournament and South Atlantic Regional.

Atkinson finished in the top five nationally among Division II players in scoring (14.8 ppg), assists (281), steals (125) and assist-turnover ratio (3.2/1) en route to Third-Team All-America honors.

“Anna Atkinson is a great point guard who does a fantastic job of distributing the ball,” added Hancock. “They like to get out and run, so, hopefully, that will prepare us for some of the teams we will face this season.”

Following Thursday’s exhibition tilt with the Bulldogs, the Seahawks begin their season Nov. 14 vs. Longwood in the ISES Cancer Awareness Tip-off Classic hosted by Elon. The Seahawks, Lancers and Phoenix will be joined by Winston-Salem State in the four-team field.

Moss, meanwhile, welcomes back just one starter – point guard Chad Tomko – after losing a lot of offensive firepower in graduated players T.J. Carter, Daniel Fountain, Todd Hendley and Vladimir Kuljanin. Tomko will be joined by sophomore jumping jack Dominique Lacy and Xavier transfer Johnny Wolf as the Seahawks look to build on last year’s 20-13 record.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to play in the front of our fans against someone other than ourselves,” said Moss. “Practice has been going well, but we’re ready to line up across from somebody else and see how we stack up.”

The Seahawks scheduled the exhibition with the Knights when assistant coach Brooks Lee’s father, Billy, was coaching at St. Andrews. The elder Lee has since left the program, but UNCW will still face SAPC, continuing a policy that Moss has adopted. “We’re started playing at least one exhibition per year against an NCAA Division II team from North or South Carolina,” Moss explained. “We had already set this up when Billy was there, so it was locked in.”

St. Andrews returns seven lettermen from last year’s 7-20 squad that finished ninth in the league. Richie Shuler begins his first season in Laurinburg, N.C., with 15 players on his roster, including leading scorer Colby Poe (10.4 ppg) and top rebounder Joseph Gripper (4.67 rpg).

“They’ll be a hard team to figure out,” added Moss of the Knights. “We know they will come into here hungry and ready to play just like us. We’ve had some breakthrough practices the last couple days. We’ve been practicing at a certain level, but the ceiling has risen in the last couple days of practice.”

Following the clash with the Knights, the Seahawks open the regular season on Friday, Nov. 14, with a 7 p.m. matchup against in-state foe Appalachian State at Trask Coliseum. -Courtesy UNCW

-- Jesse Jones, CAPE FEAR SPORTS REPORT