WILMINGTON,  North Carolina - The UNCW women's basketball team opens the Adell Harris era Friday as it travels to nationally-ranked West Virginia for a 7 p.m. contest at the WVU Coliseum.

   Named the 10th coach in program history on May 3, Harris takes over the Seahawk program following a successful three-year stint as head coach at Tusculum College (Tenn.), guiding the NCAA Division II school to a 61-30 overall record, back-to-back Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament championships (2010 & 2011) and three straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

   UNCW welcomes back three starters and seven letterwinners from its 2011-12 squad that recorded 20 victories and advanced to postseason play for the second consecutive season with an at-large berth in the Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.

Seahawk Notes

• Friday's game marks the beginning of UNCW's 40th season of competition. The Seahawks has put together a 457-561 record in that span with four 20-win seasons and two postseason berths (two WNIT).
• The Seahawks are 21-18 all-time in season openers and have won four of its last five lid-lifters. UNCW suffered a 79-60 setback in its last season opener, a neutral-site defeat to Middle Tennessee State at the Nittany Lion Classic last November.
• For the first time in program history, UNCW will open a season against a nationally-ranked opponent when it takes on the No. 17/22 Mountaineers Friday. The Seahawks, who are playing just their 26th game against a nationally-ranked team in program history, have never beaten a ranked opponent. UNCW was 0-4 against ranked opposition in 2011-12.
• UNCW will once again look to make life difficult for opposing offenses as the Seahawks averaged 10.3 steals per game last season to rank second in the CAA and 52nd in the nation in that category. UNCW recorded double-figure steals in 19 of their 33 games in 2011-12, including a season-high 17 thefts in their win against East Carolina on Nov. 20.
• The Seahawks will once again face a challenging non-conference slate in 2012-13 as seven of their 11 non-league opponents qualified for postseason competition last season, including NCAA Tournament participants Liberty, Northern Kentucky and West Virginia. In addition, nine of those teams won 15 or more contests, with six of those teams - Liberty, Northern Kentucky, Richmond, Tulane, Wake Forest and West Virginia - all reaching the 20-win milestone.
• Seniors Tawanna Lee, Karneshia Garrett and Chelsea McGowen all return following solid inaugural campaigns with the Seahawks program in 2011-12. Both Lee and Garrett averaged 9.8 points per game while Garrett also led the team in rebounding (7.5 rpg) and Lee dished out 115 assists. McGowen, meanwhile, averaged 4.9 points and was third on the team with 4.3 rebounds. Lee is the only returning player that started every outing for UNCW in 2011-12. Garrett took part in 32 games and made 21 starts while McGowen saw playing time in 31 games with 17 starts in 2011-12.
• Redshirt junior Jessica Freeman also returns after taking part in all 33 games a season ago. Freeman averaged 8.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and was sixth in the CAA in steals (2.2 spg). She led the CAA in three-point field goal percentage (.414) and matched a CAA Tournament record with eight steals in the Seahawks 94-87 victory over Hofstra in the Quarterfinals of the 2012 CAA Championship.

Scouting West Virginia

• Ranked in both the Associated Press (17th) and the USA Today Sports/ESPN Top 25 (22nd) preseason polls, West Virginia welcomes back four starters and nine letterwinners from last season's squad that posted a 24-10 overall record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• West Virginia posted a 102-28 exhibition win over Alderson-Broaddus on Oct. 31 at the WVU Coliseum. All 14 Mountaineer players that dressed for the contest saw playing time, with five recording double-figure scoring numbers behind sophomore Crystal Leary's game-high 17 points.
• The Mountaineers will be without the services of senior Aysa Bussie, who suffered a season-ending knee injury during preseason training. Bussie was WVU's top scorer a season ago, averaging 12.1 points while also chipping in 6.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game on her way to earning First-Team All-BIG EAST honors.
• Juniors Christal Caldwell and Taylor Palmer return to the lineup after averaging 10.8 and 10.6 points per game, respectively, in 2011-12. Caldwell was second on the team with 73 free throws made while Palmer accounted for nearly half of the team's three-point field goals a year ago (74-of-154).
• Senior forward Ayana Dunning is back after leading the team in rebounding, grabbing 8.4 caroms per game to help the Mountaineers post a positive rebounding margin of 8.4 during the season. Dunning also averaged 8.3 points per game.
• Head Coach Mike Carey begins his 12th season in Morgantown. Carey has led the Mountaineers to 227-127 overall record during his tenure that has featured eight trips to the postseason (Six NCAA, two WNIT).

Series Notes Versus West Virginia

• Friday's contest marks the first meeting between UNCW and West Virginia.

UNCW Versus The Big 12

• Friday's contest marks only the fourth game for UNCW against a member of the Big 12 Conference.
• The Seahawks are 0-3 in their three previous matchups against members of the Big 12, suffering a 69-51 loss to Kansas State at home on Jan. 3, 1995 before falling in a 66-49 setback at Oklahoma State on Dec. 10, 2005 and coming up short in a 75-49 neutral-site defeat to the Wildcats in Jersey City, N.J. just 19 days later.

Tingley Returns To Morgantown

UNCW assistant coach Kim Tingley is no stranger to the West Virginia program, having spent two seasons as a player with the Mountaineer program (1997-1999) before transferring to Delaware for the final two seasons of her collegiate career.

UNCW Versus Ranked Opponents

• UNCW will open the regular season against a ranked opponent for the first time in program history when it squares off against No. 17 West Virginia on Friday.
• The Seahawks have squared off against ranked opposition only 25 times in its 40-year history and have yet to post a victory against a top-25 team.
• All but five of the Seahawks previous 25 contests against ranked opposition have come against Colonial Athletic Association members Delaware and Old Dominion as the Seahawks have faced just five ranked opponents - Boston College (12-19-10), Duke (12-20-11), Ohio State (11-25-03 & 11-28-10) and UNC Chapel Hill (11-1-99) - during non-conference play.
• Last season, UNCW played four games against a ranked opponent. The Seahawks suffered a 107-45 loss at No. 9 Duke during non-conference play and fell three times to conference foe Delaware, including a 66-39 loss to the then No.-7 ranked Blue Hens in the semifinals of the CAA Women's Basketball Championship.

Exhibition Recap

• UNCW improved its all-time exhibition record to 14-12 as it posted a 52-38 victory against UNC Pembroke at Trask Coliseum on Nov. 3.
• Senior Karneshia Garrett led the Seahawk attack, scoring 10 points and adding 11 rebounds to record a double-double. Garrett was the only UNCW player to reach double figures as fellow senior Chelsea McGowen tallied nine points while juniors Brittany Gamby and Jessica Freeman and sophomore Kelva Atkins chipped in eight points apiece to give the Seahawks a balanced scoring effort.
• McGowen pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds to join Garrett in double figures as UNCW posted a 50-43 advantage on the glass.
• Freeman finished with a game-high nine steals and added five assists and five rebounds while Atkins pitched in six rebounds, five assists and three steals in an all-around effort for both players.
• UNCW never trailed in the contest, scoring the first five points of the game before using a 13-4 spurt midway through the first half to build a 20-8 advantage.
• UNCP would cut the deficit to two early in the second half, but UNCW would once again take control of the contest, rattling off eight unanswered points to end the Braves run and regain a double-digit cushion.
• UNCP was unable to get any closer than eight points the rest of the way as the Seahawks took advantage of a 6-0 spurt in the closing minutes to build a 16-point edge and cruise to the 14-point victory.

UNCW Head Coaches in Their Seahawk Debut

• New head coach Adell Harris will make her UNCW coaching debut on Friday. Listed below are the debut results of the nine other Seahawk head coaches in the program's 40-year history.

Half-Dollar Defense

• The Seahawks are 52-0 since the start of the 2002-03 campaign when limiting the opposition to 50 points or less.
• UNCW held nine opponents to 50 points or less in 2010-11 and was a perfect 9-0 in those contests. The Seahawks did not hold an opponent to 50 points or less during the 2011-12 season.
• The last time the Seahawks lost a game in which they held their opponent to less than 50 points was a 49-44 setback at rival Campbell on Nov. 17, 2001.

Interstate 70

• UNCW is 69-8 since the start of the 2000-01 campaign when it scores 70 or more points in a contest.
• The Seahawks were 10-1 in 2011-12 and are 23-2 over the past two seasons when reaching the 70-point plateau.

Hail To The Thief

• UNCW once again made life difficult for opposing offenses last season as the Seahawks averaged 10.3 steals per game to sit second in the CAA and rank 52nd in the nation in that category.
• The Seahawks recorded double-figure steals in 19 of their 33 games in 2011-12, including a season-high 17 steals in their win against East Carolina on Nov. 20.
• Redshirt junior Jessica Freeman was second on the team and seventh in the league in thefts (2.2) in 2011-12. Freeman, who finished the 2011-12 season in 10th place on the program's single-season steals charts (72), matched the CAA Championship record with eight steals in the Seahawks 94-87 victory over Hofstra in the quarterfinal round of the event.

The 20-20 Club

• For second straight season and just the fourth time in program history, the UNCW women's basketball team reached the 20-win plateau in a single season.
• The Seahawks finished the season with a 20-13 overall mark as they earned their 20th win of the 2011-12 campaign with an 94-87 victory over Hofstra in the quarterfinals of the 2012 CAA Women's Basketball Championship.
• The team's 20 wins in 201-12 marked the first time in school history that the program has enjoyed back-to-back 20 win seasons as the 2010-11 squad established a school record with 24 victories.

Seahawks Tabbed Seventh, Garrett Preseason Honorable Mention

• UNCW was picked to finish seventh overall during the upcoming 2012-13 season and senior forward Karneshia Garrett was a Honorable Mention Preseason All-CAA selection.
• The Seahawks and George Mason were selected to finish seventh in a vote of the league's 11 head coaches, ahead of Towson, William & Mary and Georgia State.
• Delaware was picked to repeat as regular-season champion while James Madison was tabbed to finish second. Hofstra was picked third, followed by Drexel, Old Dominion, Northeastern, UNCW and George Mason (tie), Towson and William & Mary (tie) and Georgia State.
• Garrett earned Honorable Mention Preseason All-CAA accolades after appearing in 32 games and making 21 starts during her first season with the program in 2011-12. She averaged 9.8 points and 7.5 rebounds while pacing the team with six double-doubles.

2011-12 Recap

• The UNCW women's basketball program enjoyed another successful campaign in 2011-12.
• The Seahawks reached the 20-win plateau for the second consecutive season and the fourth time in program history as it finished the 2011-12 campaign with a 20-13 overall mark. It marked the first time in school history that the program had recorded back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
• UNCW made its second straight appearance in the Postseason WNIT as it fell to Appalachian State, 79-73, in first-round action at Trask Coliseum. The loss dropped the Seahawks to 1-2 in two appearances in the 64-team event (2011 & 2012).
• UNCW once again made life difficult for opposing offenses as the Seahawks averaged 10.3 steals per game to rank second in the CAA and 52nd in the nation in that category. UNCW recorded double-figure steals in 19 of their 33 games in 2011-12, including a season-high 17 thefts in their win against East Carolina on Nov. 20.
• UNCW thrived in close contests last season as the Seahawks were 8-1 in games decided by five points or less during the 2011-12 season. Their only loss under such circumstances came in a 59-57 setback to Old Dominion at Trask Coliseum on Feb. 12.
• The Seahawks enjoyed considerable success at home last season, compiling a 9-4 record in the Port City in 2011-12. UNCW finished the season by winning eight of its last 11 home contests.