WILMINGTON, N.C. – UNCW women's basketball returns to action at 6:30 p.m. on Friday against Delaware at Bob Carpenter Center. The Seahawks are tied for third in the Coastal Athletic Association standings with a 6-3 record in conference play. The game will be streamed on FloCollege.
Evan Miller will break the program's 14-year record for career games played by playing in her 127th game in the contest against Delaware. Miller will surpass the record of 126 games played held by Treasure Johnson and Martha White (both played at UNCW from 2007-11). With six minutes played against Delaware, Miller will also move into the program's top five for all-time minutes played. She averages 9.9 points per game this season and needs 94 points for 1,000 in her career.
UNCW earned a hard-fought win against Stony Brook, 65-57, in the Play4Kay Game at Trask Coliseum last Sunday for their third straight conference victory. UNCW matched its longest CAA win streak since the 2018-19 season and earned its most CAA wins in a season since the 2019-20 campaign.
The Seahawks dominated Stony Brook in points in the paint 38-18 and 17-3 in bench points. UNCW held the Seawolves to shooting a combined 9-of-35 from the field over the second and third quarters.
Against Stony Brook, Ali Zelaya recorded her fourth straight double-double and seventh of the season. She set a new career-high with 26 points while grabbing 14 rebounds and adding three blocks and assists. Zelaya ripped down her 10th rebound in the third quarter to record the 400th double-double in program history (52 seasons).
Zelaya was recognized as one of five collegiate basketball players named Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association on Tuesday, following two dominant double-double performances in wins against Hofstra and Stony Brook. The graduate student was also named CAA Player of the Week.
Zelaya leads UNCW in scoring with 11.7 points per game. She ranks seventh in the CAA with 15.2 points per game in conference play. She is among the nation's elite in four statistical categories. Zelaya is 15th in defensive rebounds per game (7.8), 19th in blocks (46), 25th in blocks per game (2.09), and 35th in rebounds (206). She also leads the Coastal Athletic Association in blocks, rebounds, rebounds per game, and defensive rebounds per game.
Redshirt sophomore Taylor Henderson averages 11.6 points per contest and tallied her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Stony Brook. Henderson has scored 679 points in 51 career games (13.3 PPG).
Jania Hall needs 33 points to reach 1,000 for her career. Hall was the CAA's Sixth Player of the Year at Monmouth last season and moved to the bench nine games ago for UNCW. Since the switch, Hall has scored in double figures five times. Hall averages 9.5 points per game this season and is one of four Seahawks, along with Zelaya, Henderson, and Miller, to have over 200 points this season.
GAME COVERAGE
• UNCW (12-10, 6-3 CAA) at Delaware (5-14, 2-7 CAA)
• Live Stream: FloCollege
• Live Stats: UNCWSports.com/coverage
SERIES INFO
Delaware has a 37-10 edge in the all-time series, including a 20-3 record at home. UNCW will look to snap a nine-game winless streak against Delaware since 2020 and search for its first road win at Delaware since 2008.
SCOUTING THE BLUE HENS
Delaware defeated Northeastern in Boston, 62-54, outscoring the Huskies in the final quarter, 17-10. Rebecca Demeke led Delaware to victory with 24 points and eight rebounds. Chloe Wilson tallied a double-double with 10 points and 17 rebounds. Tara Cousins and Ella Wanzer also reached double figures with 10 points each. Demeke, Cousins, and Wanzer average over 10 points per game, and they've combined for 109 three-pointers this season.
LOOKING AHEAD
UNCW travels to Philadelphia on Sunday for a battle against Drexel at 1 p.m. Drexel has won 34 of the 42 all-time meetings. The Seahawks look to snap a 25-game winless streak against the Dragons since 2011. UNCW has not beaten Drexel in Philadelphia since 2010.
