Observations from Duquesne

Observations from Charlotte's 88-77 loss to Duquesne on Wednesday:

-- Duquesne was a team in trouble. The Dukes had lost three straight and were scoring an average of 57.3 points and shooting 37.8 percent during that stretch.

Hello, 49ers and their welcoming defense.

The Dukes' 88 points were a season-high for a Charlotte opponent, as was their 59.3 percent shooting.

“It was a simple case of lost identity,” said 49ers coach Alan Major. “Our identity is defense. That’s who we are. We didn’t defend to the level we needed to, that we’re capable of playing. There’s really no ‘X and O’ dissertation needed. It was one team being who they were and one not.”

Charlotte tried a 2-3 zone defense, a tactic that has befuddled the Dukes all season. Didn't matter. Duquesne forward B.J. Montiero found openings on the baseline for 21 points -- including nine in a row at one stretch.

The 49ers need to tighten things up for their Saturday game at Xavier, which will be honoring seniors like Tu Holloway and Kenny Frease. After that will be a first-round Atlantic 10 tournament game Tuesday on  the road -- likely against a team like Massachusetts, Dayton or La Salle.

-- Charlotte's Chris Braswell finished the game with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He had 11 points and nine boards at halftime. It wasn't until the 8:35 mark of the second half that he scored again. Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said the Dukes were willing to give up perimeter shots to focus defensively on Braswell (Charlotte was 11 of 25 from 3-point range).

-- Derrio Green, who hasn't had much playing time recently, played 17 minutes. First thing he did upon entering the game was hoist a 3-pointer, which swished.

-- Braswell was honored before the game for scoring his 1,000th career point (last week against George Washington).

 -- The 49ers were victimized by Atlantic 10 steals leader T.J. McConnell, who had five. Charlotte had 20 turnovers for the game. Charlotte's Pierria Henry, who is second in the league behind McConnell, had just one steal and that got that by corralling a lazy pass in the backcourt.

 

Trio of Charlotte 49ers women's baskeball players gain Atlantic 10 honors

Three 49ers women's basketball players were honored by the Atlantic 10 today:

-- Senior guard Epiphany Woodson is the league's Sixth Player of the Year. Woodson also made the all-conference third team and the all-academic team.

-- Forward Jennifer Hailey was selected to the all-conference second team and the league's all-defensive team.

-- Freshman guard Hillary Sigmon made the all rookie team.

-- The rest of the Atlantic 10 women's post-season honors.

The sixth-seed 49ers play Saint Louis in the first round of the league tournament Friday in Philadelphia.

Charlotte 49ers jockeying for tournament position

Charlotte 49ers news and notes:

-- Although the Atlantic 10 hasn't made it official, the 49ers have clinched a spot in the league's men's basketball tournament next week.

If Charlotte (currently tied for 11th with George Washington) finishes tied for 12th with either Fordham and Rhode Island, it holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with either of them. They also hold all the tiebreakers if they were to finish in any combination of a three-way tie for 11th with Rhode Island, Fordham or George Washington.
 
While it's likely Charlotte (13-14, 5-9) will finish somewhere in the 9-12 range in the standings (meaning they would have to play on the road in the first round next Tuesday), there's a remote chance the 49ers could finish eighth and thus get a home game.

But they would have to win their two remaining games (Wednesday at home against Duquesne; Saturday at Xavier) to do that, and get help from elsewhere.

-- 49ers junior forward Chris Braswell will be honored before the Duquesne game for scoring his 1,000th career point recently.

-- The sixth-seed 49ers face No. 11 Saint Louis in the first round of the Atlantic 10 women's basketball tournament Friday 7:30 p.m. at Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia. Charlotte (16-11) and the Billikens (10-19) split their regular-season games, with the 49ers winning 61-52 in Halton Arena and Saint Louis winning 70-69 on Feb. 22.

The winner faces third-seed Dayton on Saturday.


-- Charlotte's softball team, off to an 8-5 start, is host to South Carolina (10-3) at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The 49ers, who went 4-1 in the 49ers Classic last weekend, have been getting strong play from freshman outfielder Alex Rogers, who is hitting .390. The 49ers are then off to San Diego, where they will play five-game tournament at San Diego State over the weekend.
 
-- Charlotte's baseball team, which played at Winthrop on Tuesday, is back home against Wagner this weekend. The 49ers haven't lost a series at home since February 2009. Charlotte, incidentally, isn't playing North Carolina this season because dates couldn't be worked out. The Tar Heels are expected to be back on the schedule next season.

Observations from George Washington

Observations from the 49ers' 72-62 victory Wednesday over George Washington at Halton Arena:

-- The Atlantic 10 won't make it official yet, but it appears Charlotte has clinched a spot in the conference tournament. With three games remaining, Charlotte is in 11th place with a 5-8 league record, ahead of George Washington (4-9) and Fordham and Rhode Island (both 2-11).

The worst that can happen to the 49ers is a three-way tie for 12th at 5-11 with GW and either Fordham or Rhode Island (the two Rams teams play each other, so only one can get to five victories). The A-10's tie-breaking procedure for multi-team ties is the team with the best combined record against the other teams involved in the tie.

Charlotte would be 2-1 (1-1 against GW, 1-0 against either Fordham or Rhode Island).

GW would be 2-1 if the tie was with Charlotte and Rhode Island; 1-2 if it was with Charlotte and Fordham.

Fordham could be 1-1 (0-1 against Charlotte, 1-0 against GW).

But that's a long way off. If Charlotte beats St. Bonaventure on Saturday and either Fordham loses to La Salle or Rhode Island falls to Saint Louis, the 49ers are in without having to worry about tiebreakers.

Although they might be in already. The league will look into it Thursday or Friday.


-- Good to see Derrio Green get substantial minutes (18) and play well against the Colonials. Green made two 3-pointers in the second half, and although he missed both his free throws and missed a layup after a steal, he was pivotal in the 49ers' victory. He's been through a lot the last few weeks, playing just nine minutes in five games (three DNPs).

-- And a tough break for forward K.J. Sherrill, who'll miss the rest of the season with a broken arm suffered in the first half. Remember, Sherrill missed 10 games last season with a knee injury. Sherrill's absence will likely mean more minutes for Ilija Ivankovic, who played a season-high five minutes Wednesday.

 -- It didn’t take Charlotte center Chris Braswell long to become the 24^th player in school history to score 1,000 points in his career. Braswell entered the game with 992 points and he scored Charlotte’s first nine points to reach the plateau quickly. Guard Jamar Briscoe already hit the 1,000-point mark earlier this season.

-- Small forward DeMario Mayfield has essentially become the 49ers’ backup point guard. When Pierria Henry is out of the game, Mayfield takes over at the point, even when Briscoe (last year’s starter at point guard) is in the game.

  

Chiquita Stadium? Not happening for 49ers

The power of Twitter caused a minor stir at UNC Charlotte late last week.

When Chiquita Brands International CEO Fernando Aguirre tweeted -- jokingly apparently -- that UNCC Chancellor Phil Dubois had started a rumor that the school’s new football stadium would be named for Chiquita, it got plenty of attention.

But it appears there are currently no plans that the 15,000-seat stadium’s naming rights -- worth $5 million to the school -- will go Chiquita, the international conglomerate that is relocating to Charlotte.

As Aguirre put it at the end of his tweet: LOL.

"Fernando had a great chance to visit with Chancellor Dubois last week and get a great tour of the UNC Charlotte campus,” Chiquita spokesman Andrew Ciafardini said in an email. ”He was very impressed. We are in the process of exploring some small partnerships with the Univeristy (including an IT internship program) but at this time there are no plans for any sort of naming rights or sporting sponsorships."

Aguirre visited the 49ers’ campus late last week. Afterward, Aguirre -- a frequent tweeter -- posted on this account (#fdoAguirreCEO):

“#UNCCharlotte building the #ChiquitaStadium ? Oh yes, Chancellor Dubois started the rumor. I thanked him already. LOL”

The #ChiquitaStadium “hashtag” drew some attention, with one 49ers fan inviting Aguirre to support the school’s football team, which begins play in 2013.

UNCC officials had no comment, but were not taking Aguirre’s tweet too seriously. One source said Dubois might have “mentioned” naming rights to Aguirre, but not in any kind of formal proposal.

Dubois and athletics director Judy Rose continued to pursue naming rights to the stadium, which will be finished this fall. The stadium’s field already has been named McColl-Richardson Field, in honor of local business and sports icons Hugh McColl and Jerry Richardson. They have donated a substantial amount toward the $2.5-million goal for field naming rights.

Observations from Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. -- Observations from the 49ers' 53-52 loss Saturday to Richmond:

-- Yes, Charlotte might have won had the 49ers shot free throws better (the 49ers were 9 of 19). But the game wouldn't have been as close it was had the 49ers not forced the Spiders into a season-high 19 turnovers. Charlotte scored 18 points off those turnovers and had eight steals. Three came from Pierria Henry and Deuce Briscoe.

Still, missing all those free throws hurt. The 49ers have become inconsistent from the line. They were 17 of 20 against Dayton on Wednesday; 19 of 38 last Saturday against Rhode Island. And although coach Alan Major doesn't like to single out any certain aspect of a game as being crucial in a win or loss, he did this time:

"You might say if we make two more, we win the game," he said.

-- Charlotte had 10 offensive rebounds and scored eight points off them. They needed to convert just one more of them to win it, though, and had the chance -- twice -- at the end of the game.
 

-- Senior guard Derrio Green played for the first time in four games. Green, a former starter who was the team’s leading scorer last season, hadn’t played since the La Salle game Feb. 1 (and he played just four minutes then). Green played five minutes in the first half, missing both his shots and making a steal.

-- Charlotte freshman E. Victor Nickerson and Richmond’s Alonzo Nelson-Ododa were high school teammates at Norcross (Ga.) in suburban Atlanta.

-- The 49ers went scoreless seven minutes in the first half as Richmond jumped to a 12-point lead. Charlotte missed 10 of its first 13 shots, but recovered to cut Richmond’s lead to 25-19 at halftime.

-- 49ers forward DeMario Mayfield, who was suspended one game (at Dayton on Wednesday) for a misdemeanor marijuana possession arrest earlier in the week, didn’t start but played 30 minutes, scoring 7 points and grabbing 11 rebounds and being right in the middle of that frantic final few seconds.

-- The loss didn't really hurt the 49ers (4-8) much in the standings (although Richmond moved up to sole possession of ninth place), where they are tied for 11th with George Washington. The Colonials (Charlotte's opponent Wednesday at Halton Arena) lost to Saint Joseph's. There's still a cushion above Fordham (2-10) and Rhode Island (2-11), who both lost and remain in 13th and 14th, respectively. 

49ers-Richmond: What to watch for

RICHMOND, Va. -- Three things to watch for in today's Charlotte-Richmond game at sold-out Robins Center.

-- The Spiders average an Atlantic 10-low 11.1 turnovers, while Charlotte averages 8.8 steals, second most in the league. So a key matchup will be between Charlotte point guard Pierria Henry, who averages 2.8 steals, and Richmond's Cedrick Lindsay, who has a 1.7 assists-turnover ratio.

-- Charlotte's next four games are key as the 49ers (tied for 10th in the A-10) jockey for position for the conference tournament: Richmond and George Washington (at home Wednesday) are tied with Charlotte in the win column (four victories). The next two games, both at home against St. Bonaventure (next Saturday) and Duquesne (Feb. 29) are against teams just ahead of Charlotte, with six league victories.

-- Charlotte is 6-7 overall on the road (second-most road wins in the A-10 behind first-place Temple, which is 8-3). Center Chris Braswell is a big reason for that: He's averaging 20.5 points on the road, including 22.0 in the last three conference games).