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PENSACOLA, Fla. – The UWF women's basketball team opens a 3-game homestand on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m., playing host to No. 5/7 Valdosta State at the UWF Field House in a game sponsored by Key Insurance. The Argos welcome West Georgia to town on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
ABOUT THE ARGOS
* UWF moved to 4-5 over the weekend with a road split against Shorter. The Argonauts won the Friday game 71-64 before the Lady Hawks escaped with a 73-70 victory on Saturday.
* Senior F Danielle Norquest leads the team with 11.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. She is also shooting 43 percent from the floor and 43 percent from outside, making 12-of-28 3-pointers. She had a rough week in Georgia, scoring a combined 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting.
* Junior G Charlotte Ellmore is second on the squad with 10.2 ppg and is tied for the team lead with 14 3-pointers. She has made at least two triples in five games and at least one in the first eight contests (she went 0-for-4 on Saturday)
* UWF is averaging 66.0 ppg as a team on 35.4 pct. shooting. They are allowing 71.4 ppg on 44 pct. shooting.
 
LEWIS BREAKS OUT IN GEORGIA HOMECOMING
* Junior G Peyton Lewis had a standout two games last week at Shorter, posting career-highs in each game while providing a spark off the bench for the Argos.
* The junior from Hampton, Ga. averaged 15.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while shooting 53 percent from the floor, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range. She posted back-to-back career-highs, scoring 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting in the Friday game and 16 points on 6-of-11 the next afternoon.
 * The Kennesaw State transfer raised her scoring average from 4.0 points to 6.6 ppg. She had totaled 18 points in seven games before scoring 31 in the last two. She has posted her three highest-scoring games as an Argo in the last four contests, averaging 11.3 ppg over that span.
 
UWF TIES MODERN SCHOOL 3-POINT RECORD
* After three games this season, UWF had made just 18 3-pointers for 6.0 made per game. The squad has found its stroke in the last six contests, connecting on 52 for 8.5 per game, bringing its season average to 7.8 per game, ranking fourth in the GSC overall and second in the East Division behind Lee's 8.9.
* Two weekends ago against No. 18 Lee, UWF made 22 triples in the two contests, marking the most in consecutive games since at least the 1993-94 season. The Argos made seven in each game at Shorter last weekend.
* The 12 makes in the 71-62 win were the most since making 12-of-27 against Concordia-Selma on Feb. 23, 2010.
 
3-POINTERS MADE IN A GAME
Since 1993-94
12       Lee                                                  1/22/21
12       Concordia-Selma                      2/23/10
12       at West Alabama                        2/5/01
12       at Lincoln Memorial                1/17/00
11       Tuskegee                                      12/5/18
11       Spring Hill                                  11/20/18
11       Alabama Huntsville                    1/9/10
11       at Palm Beach Atl.                 12/17/09
11       at Palm Beach Atl.                 12/15/08
11       at Florida Memorial                 12/9/06
11       West Alabama                           1/23/06
11       at Miss.-Women                       2/11/02
 
REBOUNDING A STRENGTH 
FOR UWF ONCE AGAIN
* Historically, UWF has been a dominant rebounding team at both ends of the floor and 2020-21 appears to be no different. UWF ranked third in the GSC at 42.0 rpg and is third in rebound defense, allowing just 33.0 rpg. Valdosta State leads the GSC in both categories at 42.8 rpg and 32.8 defensive rpg. The Lady Blazers and Argos rank first and second in rebound margin, posting plus-10.1 and plus-9.0 margins.
* Here is a chart showing where UWF has ranked in rebounding offense during the Stephanie Lawrence Yelton era:
 
Year                      RPG                   GSC Rank
2012-13               46.7                          1st
2013-14               40.8                         2nd
2014-15               45.8                          1st
2015-16               40.5                         2nd
2016-17               45.8                          1st
2017-18               43.7                          1st
2018-19               43.7                          1st
2019-20               43.3                         2nd
2020-21               42.0                         3rd
 
UWF HOOPS HISTORY 101
* The Argonauts are 582-512 all-time and 235-182 in GSC play … UWF has won three East Division and one overall regular-season titles, along with the 2013-14 GSC Tournament crown … The Argos have played in six NCAA Regional Tournaments – including four in the last seven years – and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2017 with a school-record 28 victories … Prior to last year's 8-win campaign, UWF had averaged 21 wins in the previous six seasons.
 
SCOUTING VALDOSTA STATE
* Valdosta State comes to Pensacola with a 12-1 record and is ranked No. 7 in the country. The Lady Blazers have a 5-game winning streak following a pair of wins over West Georgia. VSU is ranked fifth in the first WBCA Coaches Poll that was announced on Tuesday and seventh in the D2 Sports Information Directors of America poll.
* The Lady Blazers enter the contest averaging 72.2 ppg and allowing 57.7 ppg.  VSU is shooting 42 pct. Overall and 32.2 from 3-point range.
* Senior Kayla Bonilla leads the team with 14.3 ppg on 44.8 pct. shooting. She also leads the team at the foul line, making 52-of-64 for 81.3 pct. Graduate transfer Kwajelin Farrar is second on the team with 13.4 ppg on a team-high and No. 2 in the GSC at 57.8 pct shooting.  Farrar averages a team-high 9.5 rpg (4th in GSC), and is third in the GSC with 14 blocks.
* Deandra Shirmer is in her second season at VSU and has a 30-12 record after an 18-11 mark a year ago. The USC-Aiken graduate was an assistant coach at Eckerd for the five seasons before taking over at VSU
 
UWF-VALDOSTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
* VSU leads the all-time series with UWF 19-14 with the teams splitting the last eight contests. The Argos have a 9-6 edge at the UWF Field House with a 7-game winning streak dating back to 
* A year ago, the Lady Blazers escaped with a 60-59 win in Valdosta before the Argos claimed a 70-66 win in Pensacola on Senior Night. Valdosta game: The Argos trailed by 12 and by 11 early in the fourth quarter before mounting a comeback. Danielle Norquest had a shot roll off the rim as time expired. UWF outrebounded VSU 53-36 in the contest. Pensacola game: Faithe Franklin had a Senior Night to remember with 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals for UWF – 9 points and 7 boards came after halftime.
 
 
YELTON CLAIMS 200TH HEAD COACHING VICTORY
* Stephanie Lawrence Yelton is in her ninth season at UWF and has a 143-98 record at UWF … She is 201-183 in her 14th season as a head coach, which includes five seasons at Charleston Southern … The Morrow, Ga. native (suburb south of Atlanta) is a UNC grad from 1996 and was a 4-year letterwinner for the Tar Heels, where she won two ACC Championships and the 1994 NCAA National Championship – she threw the inbounds pass on Charlotte Smith's game-winning buzzer beater in the title game.
* As a head coach, she has 13 wins versus Shorter, 12 against West Alabama and 11 against both Delta State and Valdosta State.
* Yelton was named the GSC Coach of the Year in 2013-14 and 2018-19.
 
GSC SPLIT INTO DIVISIONS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2010-11
* With an abbreviated season due to the uncertainty of health and wellness brought on by the Corona virus pandemic, the Gulf South Conference worked through a number of scheduling scenarios and ultimately settled on a 20-game slate using an East-West model … UWF is in the East with AUM, Lee, Montevallo, Shorter, Valdosta State and West Georgia … The Argos will face AUM and Montevallo four times, and the other four schools three times … The top four teams from each division will qualify for the GSC Championship.
 
UWF PICKED 6TH IN GSC COACHES POLL
* UWF was picked to finish sixth in the GSC Preseason Coaches Poll, while the Lady Blazers were picked fourth … Defending champion Lee earned four of six first place votes and was picked first in the East, followed by Montevallo who received the other two first place votes. West Georgia, VSU and Auburn Montgomery were ahead of the Argos, with Shorter picked seventh.
 
NORQUEST NAMED PRESEASON ALL-GSC
* Senior F Danielle Norquest was named to the Preseason All-GSC East Division Team in the preseason … The standout from Diamond, Ohio, is coming off a season in which she averaged 14.5 points and 12.9 rebounds per game … She is the third leading returning scorer in the GSC East Division … Last season she led the league and ranked sixth nationally with a school-record-tying 21 double-doubles … Norquest enters the Valdosta State game with 753 points and 602 rebounds in three-plus seasons at UWF.
 
WHAT'S BACK FOR THE ARGOS
* UWF returns six letterwinners from a year ago, including five players who started at least 15 games … Senior F Danielle Norquest and junior G Charlotte Ellmore each started all 28 games and combined for 24.2 points, 16.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game … Junior C Aline Fevrier continued to improve in the post with 5.1 ppg and 4.0 rpg … Additionally, redshirt sophomore PG D'Asia Collins returns after missing the entire season with a knee injury.
 
UWF NEWCOMERS
* UWF has seven newcomers, along with a redshirt freshman who missed the final 21 games from a year ago … The Argos brought in Division I transfers Gabby Brown and Peyton Lewis, to go with true freshmen Alex Haymon, Makayla Michael, Alli Morgan, Amara Newsom and Megan Sanfratello … Mary Denman Luker received a medical redshirt after a knee injury ended her season after nine games.
 
GSC FALL 2020 HOOPS TIMELINE
* August: BB, FB, SOC, VB postponed until January, 2021
* October: Discussions about starting basketball in December begin
* Late October: 2020 schedule & format planning by GSC and Member Schools
* Early November: GSC Presidents/Chancellors approve basketball to start in Dec.
* Nov. 17: GSC announces 20-game schedule with 2 divisions
* Dec. 9: 2020 Tipoff