Game Preview: The No. 15 University of North Georgia women's basketball team wraps up non-conference play at Clark Atlanta Wednesday evening.
Rankings: North Georgia is ranked No. 17 by D2SIDA and No. 15 by the WBCA in each association's latest poll of the season. The Nighthawks are ranked second in the D2SIDA regional poll.
Last Week: The Nighthawks suffered its first setback of the season with a nine-point loss at Belmont Abbey Saturday afternoon. Julianne Sutton led the Nighthawks with 16 points in the loss.
Scouting Clark Atlanta: Clark Atlanta is 2-4 on the year, winning both of their home games this year. The Panthers defeated Saint Leo by three back in mid-November before a double-overtime win over SIAC opponent Lane College Monday night. CAU lost to Augusta by seven and Lee, one of UNG's scrimmage opponents, by 26 earlier this year. Reagan Jackson leads three Panthers in double figures with 14.1 points per game, while Nailah-mawu Mitchell averages 12.7 points per contest. North Georgia won the only contest in the series last season, winning by 22 points behind a good night from former Nighthawk Amber Skidgel, who scored 18 points. All 10 Nighthawks that saw the floor scored in the game with UNG shooting nearly 48 percent from the floor.
Team Stats: The Nighthawks lead the Peach Belt Conference in assists, blocked shots, blocked shots per game, defensive rebounds per game, field goal percentage defense, rebound margin, rebounds, rebounds per game, scoring margin, three point percentage defense, threes made and threes made per game. UNG is second in the nation in defensive boards per game at 33.6, 12th in boards per game at 46.0, 15th in field goal percentage defense at 32.6 percent and 11th in three point defense at 22.4 percent.
Individual Stats: Abbie Franklin is in the top six of the conference in all three point shooting categories. The junior also ranks sixth in the league in assist-turnover ratio, seventh in assists, sixth in defensive boards per game, second in minutes played and fourth in minutes played per game. Julianne Sutton ranks in the top five in the Peach Belt in blocks (t-3rd), blocks per game (t-4th), field goal attempts (3rd), field goals made (1st), field goal percentage (4th), free throw attempts (2nd), free throw percentage (2nd) and points per game (3rd). Kara Groover leads the league in rebounds pulled down with 51.
