UWF GAME NOTES (pdf)
SATURDAY at VALDOSTA STATE: LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | TWITTER UPDATES
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The UWF women's basketball team will close out its longest road trip of the season with a Saturday contest at No. 18/17 Valdosta State. Tip-off at The Complex in Valdosta, Georgia is at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
 
ABOUT THE ARGONAUTS
* UWF is 14-4 overall & 8-3 in Gulf South Conference play. The Argonauts are on a 4-game road swing that saw them drop two at No. 15/9 Union and Christian Brothers last week before a 90-43 win over Spring Hill on Tuesday.
* Jaclyn Jarnot averages a double-double with 16.8 points per game and 13.4 rebounds per game (1st in GSC, 3rd in NCAA). Her 10.2 defensive boards per contest are 2nd in the country. The North Dakota transfer has registered a double-double in 12 games to rank third nationally. 
*Zoe Piller averages 16.1 ppg and 9.6 rpg with seven double-doubles. She is second in the GSC and 17th in the NCAA with a 58.7 FG pct. She ranks 17th in the NCAA and 1st in the GSC with 4.1 offensive rpg. Her scoring average is seventh in the NCAA among freshmen (4th among true freshmen who didn't play a COVID year last season). She has been the GSC Freshman of the Week five times (GSC record is six) and Player of the Week once. 
* Gabby Brown is third in scoring with 8.8 ppg and third in rebounding at 4.5 rpg. Her 21 3-pointers are fourth on the squad.
* Maddie Griffon is fourth on the team in scoring at 8.5 ppg and second with 47 assists (3.8 apg). Her 18 steals are second among the Argos. She missed the Spring Hill game with a leg injury and only played three minutes at CBU last Sunday, lowering her per game averages by 1.5 points an 1.0 assists.
* Charlotte Ellmore leads the team with 35.9 minutes per game and 73 assists (4th in GSC at 4.1 apg). She is 26th nationally and 2nd in the GSC with a 2.11 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
41ST SEASON OF UWF WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
* UWF enters game with 602 all-time wins dating back 40-plus years to the inaugural season of 1981-82. The Argonauts are 602-522 all-time with six NCAA Tournament appearances, one Elite Eight, four GSC Regular-Season Championships and one GSC tourney title in 18 appearances.
* In 28 seasons of NCAA/GSC membership, the program is 426-330 for a .565 winning pct., ranking fifth among current members and third among those that have been in the league for at least 10 seasons.
 
PILLER EARNS ANOTHER GSC FOW AWARD
* UWF women's basketball standout Zoe Piller picked up hear league-leading sixth GSC Freshman of the Week honor this week.
* Piller continued her impressive debut campaign with a pair of double-doubles over the past week. On the road at Union, she put up 15 points on 7-of-16 shooting while pulling down 11 rebounds. The freshman put up a new career-high 27 points against Christian Brothers after shooting 11-for-18 (61 percent) from the field. She tied her career-high with 15 rebounds as the Argos fell to CBU, 74-70.
* The first-year player from Nolensville, Tennessee is fifth in the league with 16.2 ppg and third with 9.3 rpg. She is seventh among freshmen in the country in scoring and her 59.9 percent field goal shooting placed her 12th in the country. She is second in the country with 11 double-doubles.
* This is her GSC-leading sixth Freshman of the Week award this season with five weeks remaining. The GSC record is six held by UWF's Toni Brewer in 2014-15 and UWA Tazsa Garrett-Hammett in 2016-17.
 
PILLER-JARNOT ARE THE HIGHEST SCORING FRONTCOURT TANDEM IN THE COUNTRY
* UWF's starting frontcourt duo of Zoe Piller and Jaclyn Jarnot have combined for 32.9 points and 23.0 rebounds per game. That makes them the highest scoring frontcourt in the country and the 20th highest scoring combo for any school.
* The duo has 21 combined double-doubles and the Argos are 6-1 when they have one in the same game.
 
ARGOS SET 3-POINT RECORD TUESDAY IN SPRING HILL WIN
* UWF made a school-record 16 3-pointers in the win at Spring Hill on Tuesday. The Argos are not an exceptional shooting team from outside, making just 30 percent on the year, but connected on 16-of-33 for 49 percent against the Badgers, raising their average from 28.4 to 30.1.
* The previous school-record was 12 triples set twice in the 2020-21 season against Lee (1/22/21) and at West Georgia (2/16/21).
* UWF has made at least 10 3-pointers in a game just four times this season and is 2-2 in those games.
 
GETTING TO THE LINE
* UWF has done a very good job of getting to the free throw line this season, ranking in the top 40 nationally in both makes (39th, 254) and attempts (31st, 366). In fact, the Argonauts have almost made more free throws than their opponents have attempts (254 vs. 282).
* The five regular starters have all taken at least 30 free throws, with one of the top reserves, Fanny Hulmi, at 26 attempts. 
* Freshman Zoe Piller is second in the GSC with 109 attempts, behind Emily Jones with 122 attempts.
 
REBOUNDING A STRENGTH FOR UWF ONCE AGAIN
* Historically, UWF has been a dominant rebounding team at both ends of the floor and 2021-22 is no different. UWF ranks first in the GSC at 41.9 rpg, first in defensive rebounds at 28.6 and is fourth in rebound defense, allowing just 33.1 rpg. The 8.8 rebound margin is second (20th in NCAA), just behind Delta State at 8.9.
* UWF has outrebounded its opponents in 16 of 18 games and is 12-4 in those games. The Argos won both games they were outrebounded (at UAH and vs. Delta State).
* 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            42.7              1st
2021-22            41.9              1st   
 
UWF RECEIVING VOTES IN WBCA & D2SIDA TOP 25 POLLS, RANKED FOURTH IN THE 
D2SIDA SOUTH REGION POLL
* UWF fell out of the other receiving votes in both national polls following the losses last week. The Argonauts were previously second and third in the respective polls among the others receiving votes.
* UWF fell two spots to No. 6 in the latest D2 Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) region rankings.
 
ABOUT VALDOSTA STATE
* VSU comes into the game with a 14-4 overall record and 9-2 in GSC play to sit in second place behind No. 13 Union. The Lady Blazers are ranked 18 and 17 in the two major polls. They had won seven-consecutive games before dropping their last two at Union and at Benedict. 
* Grad student Kwajelin Farrar leads the team with 14.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, including six double-doubles. She is third in the GSC with 57.9 FG pct. and second with 3.7 offensive rpg, just behind Piller's 4.1. Texas A&M-International grad transfer Nicole Heyn averages 11.9 points and 7.6 boards (10.6 in the last 5 games), along with swiping a team-high 31 steals.
* Five different players have made at least 10 3-pointers this season, led by Delaney Bernard with 34 (11-for-17 in the 4 games). 
* VSU ranks seventh in the GSC with 68.1 ppg and is first in scoring defense, allowing 53.8 ppg. They are holding teams to 34.7 FG pct. overall and just 25.0 pct. on 3-pointers.
 
UWF-VALDOSTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
* VSU leads the all-time series 32-29, with the first games coming during the 1994-95 season.
* The teams have alternated the winner in each of the last 10 contests, with VSU winning 64-47 on Feb. 2 in Pensacola. The Argos are 16-17 at the UWF Field House.
 
YELTON IN TENTH SEASON AT UWF
* Stephanie Lawrence Yelton is in her tenth season at UWF and has a 163-110 record with the Argos … She is 220-194 in her 15th 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.
* Yelton was named the GSC Coach of the Year in 2013-14 and 2018-19.
* She is 11-14 against Valdosta State.
 
WIN STREAK REACHED 10, TIED FOR NO. 3 IN PROGRAM HISTORY
* UWF reeled off 10-consecutive wins after a season-opening loss, which made the streak tied for the third-longest in UWF women's basketball history. The 1997-98 team that started 17-1, reeled off 14-straight after a 3-1 start to hold the record. The 2018-19 squad won the final 13 regular-season games for No. 2 on the list, just ahead of the 10-straight by this year's team and the 2005-06 team.
  
UWF PICKED 8TH IN GSC COACHES POLL
* UWF was picked to finish eighth in the GSC Preseason Coaches Poll, while the Wolves were picked ninth … Defending champion Union earned 10 of 12 first place votes and was picked first for the third-consecutive year. Lee received one first place vote, followed by Valdosta State with the 13th top vote. Montevallo took fourth, while Delta State rounded out the top five with Alabama Huntsville, West Alabama and West Florida sixth through eighth. West Georgia was ninth, with Christian Brothers, Mississippi College, Auburn Montgomery and Shorter also in the list.