Weekly SAC Women’s Basketball Notes - Dec. 4

Weekly women's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending December 3.

CARSON-NEWMAN - Emily Mason reached double figures in rebounds against UNC Pembroke and led the Lady Eagles with 12 points and nine boards in the win over Claflin. She was named to the Miller Orthopedic Classic All-Tournament team ... In the win over Claflin, Stefanie Holbrook set the tempo for the Eagles by scoring all 11 of her points in the half. The Eagles lead would increase all the way to 19 points in the second half after two free-throws by freshman forward/center Shari Buford ... In the loss to UNC-Pembroke, the Lady Eagles shot just 36 percent from the field and 15 percent from beyond the arc ... Carson-Newman failed to convert a three-point opportunity in the second half, but held a 57-56 lead with five minutes remaining in the game after Mason secured a rebound off her own free throw miss and scored a layup ... UNCP's Natasha Stotler swished a three-point basket to start the 6-0 run as Pembroke built a 65-57 lead with 38 seconds remaining. Ashley Tipton's jumper and Ashley Kyle's layup put the Lady Eagles to within five points at 66-61 with 12 seconds to go, but Pembroke's Victoria Willis made both free throws and Cassie Burks missed a three-pointer as UNC-Pembroke claimed the seven-point victory.

CATAWBA - The Catawba women earned two wins last week and improved its current winnings streak to six games ... The ladies rolled to a 69-50 win over Queens and an 82-60 victory over Saint Paul's ... The ladies held Queens to just 17 percent shooting in the first half to go on top 29-15 and went on for the comfortable victory ... Sicilia LoSauro, Tamekia Foster and Brittany Higgins each scored nine points in the win ... Corin Muldrow had six points and 10 rebounds ... The Lady Indians helped create 33 turnovers ... Against Saint Paul's, Catawba took a 35-21 lead at the half and led by as many as 28 in the final stanza ... Ne'Kethia Howard had a dozen points off the bench, while Muldrow added 10 points and seven rebounds ... Hillary Hampton, Cameron Clark and Brooke Whitley all added nine points as Catawba outscored the opponents off the bench 58-13 ... The ladies held a decisive 61-41 edge on the boards and held Saint Paul's to just 32 percent shooting ... Cristi Bartlett pulled down a dozen rebounds and leads the team at 6.4 per contest ... Hampton is the team's scoring leader at 10.9 a game, followed by Higgins at 10.4 a contest ... Gia Colombo is dishing out just over six assists per game ... Catawba is hitting on just under 44 percent from the field and has made 32-of-73 three-pointers ... The ladies are a +3 in rebounding and a +6 in turnover margin ... Catawba will travel to Pfeiffer on Tuesday and host Coker on Saturday for its two contests this week.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College women's basketball team picked up a resounding victory on Saturday, 77-37 over Brevard at Shuford Gymnasium in Hickory, N.C. … The Bears, who improved to 3-1 on the season, held its opponent to its lowest scoring output in 19 years (Lenoir-Rhyne defeated Wofford, 69-34, during the 1987-88 season) … Lenoir-Rhyne's 40-point victory was also its largest since the 2000-01 campaign, an 82-38 victory over Concord … An 18-0 run at the beginning of the game gave the Bears a 21-4 advantage and the rout was on … Lenoir-Rhyne, which led by as many as 44 points on two occasions, had three players score 13 points: freshman guards Jami Safrit (Newton, N.C.) and Meredith Webster (High Point, N.C.) and sophomore forward Ashlei Helton (Icard, N.C.) … Lenoir-Rhyne held Brevard to just 19 percent shooting (seven-of-37) and forced the Tornados into 26 turnovers … L-R defeated Brevard, 78-66, open the season on November 17 in the Eagle Club Classic in Jefferson City, Tenn. … Lenoir-Rhyne next plays Amstrong Atlantic State on Tuesday, November 5, in Savannah, Ga.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The Lady Railsplitters won a pair of close contests this week as they defeated Brevard 68-66 on Nov. 28 and then picked up a 66-57 win at Lees McRae two days later ... Against Brevard LMU shot a poor 41.7 percent from the field and 11 percent from three-point range, but owned the boards by a 39-23 margin ... Brevard kept it close by hitting 9-17 from three-point range ... LMU was led by Heather Benton's 21 points and nine rebounds. Andi Winney added in 14 points and nine boards as well. Madeline Richards also scored 15 points, including 5-6 from the charity stripe in the last minute to seal the victory ... Richards is now one three-pointer away from tying the LMU career record in that category ... LMU then traveled to Lees-McRae for a rematch of the season opener and came from eleven points behind to pick up the 66-57 win. The Lady Railsplitters had three players score in double figures led by Madeline Richards with 12 points. Andi Winney and Latoya Johnson scored 10 points each. Winney led LMU in rebounding with 10 for her second career double-double. (The first was also against Lees-McRae in the season opener) ... LMU has not been out-rebounded this season thus far and won the rebounding battle against LMC 44-35 ... The Lady Railsplitters will now continue their seven game road-swing when they travel to Brevard on Dec. 5 and then play at Virginia State on Dec. 9. Their next home appearance will be against Wingate on Jan. 6.

MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 2-0 last week. The Lions are now 4-1 on the season ... In the first game of the week, Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, GA) hit a 3-pointer sevens seconds into the contest to give Mars Hill a 3-0 lead and the Lions never looked back. MHC went on to win their home opener over Brevard College, 68-51. The Lions now lead the series against the Tornados, 15-0 ... Jessica Blanford (Concord, NC) led MHC with her career high 20 points converting 100 percent (9-of-9) of her field goal attempts and her free throw shots (2-for-2). She added six rebounds and four assists in the win. Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) was the only other Lion in double figures scoring 16 points and pulling down five rebounds. Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, TN) almost recorded a double-double as she tallied nine points and 10 rebounds. Lindsay Roberts (Murphy, NC) recorded her career high in blocks with six. Starting her third season with the Lions, Roberts has 96 career blocks ... Holly Krogman (Hickory, NC) led BC with 14 points followed by Samantha Winn (Candler, NC) and Courtney Brandon (Corona, CA) who scored 10 points apiece. Winn added eight rebounds ... MHC won the rebound battle, 41-to-34. The Lions scored 30 points in the paint and 18 off the break ... MHC was a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line. The Lions built an 18-point lead (35-17) with 6:44 left in the first stanza after Blanford hit a layup ... MHC went into the locker room with a 11-point advantage (39-28). Brevard opened the second half out scoring the Lions 15-to-7 to cut the deficit to just three points (46-43) with 13:19 on the clock after Briana Clark (Morganton, NC) hit a 3-pointer. The Lions answered scoring 10 unanswered points to take a 13-point lead (56-43) after Blanford hit a 15-foot jumper. That run sealed the win for the Lions ... In the second game of the week, Jessica Blanford (Concord, NC) hit two key shots for Mars Hill and the Lions placed six players in double figures to take an 87-82 victory over USC Upstate in non-conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Hodge Center ... Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) recorded a double-double in the win. Schafer's 13 rebounds was her career high ... Mars Hill improves to 4-1 on the year and next plays at UNC Asheville Monday night at 7 p.m ... Blanford led Mars Hill with 19 points for the game and added seven rebounds and four assists. Her jumper with 3:59 to play tied the game at 75-all and her layup with 42 seconds to play gave the Lions a three-point lead and helped put the game away ... Mars Hill looked to have control of the game with a seven-point lead with 11:17 to play, but Upstate fought back. Kianna Smith started a 7-0 run with a jumper, converted a layup, and made another layup as the Spartans tied the game at 65-65 with 8:29 to play. Two free throws from Danielle Edwards gave the Spartans the lead with 7:09 to play ... After Lindsay Roberts (Murphy, NC) converted a pair of free throw to tie the game at 69-69, for Mars Hill, Edwards nailed another two free throws to give the Spartans a 71-69 lead with 6:09 remaining. Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, TN) tied the game with a layup, Smith answered for the Spartans to put Upstate ahead by two, and Blanford nailed her game-tying jumper with 3:59 to play. Roberts made two free throws to give the Lions a 77-75 lead with 3:30 to play and held off the Spartans down the stretch for the win ... In the first half, Mars Hill opened a 5-0 lead early in the contest and maintained the five-point advantage midway through the first half. Upstate answered with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 20-20. Upstate opened a six-point lead, 33-27, with 5:29 to play, but Mars Hill fought back with a 9-0 run to open a three-point lead, 36-33, with 3:16 to play ... Upstate countered with a run and went into the half with a 42-40 lead ... The game was dominated in the paint with Mars Hill scoring 42 inside and Upstate tallying 40 ... Mars Hill shot 46 percent from the floor for the game and converted 14-of-20 free throws ... Upstate finished the game shooting 42 percent from the floor and converting 17-of-27 tosses from the charity stripe. Schafer finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds for Mars Hill, while DeBusk added 14. Roberts finished with 13 points, while Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, GA) and Laura Snider (Old Fort, NC) tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively ... Edwards, who was 10-of-13 from the free throw line, finished with a double-double, tallying 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Upstate. She also dished out five assists. Smith added 19 points and six rebounds, while Shavon Thompson tallied 13 points and six boards. Courtney Hawkins finished with 11 points for the Spartans.

NEWBERRY - Newberry College went a perfect 2-0 for the week defeating Claflin University and Augusta State University in the friendly confines of Eleazer Arena to move to 7-0 on the season ... The Indians set a new school record by starting the season with seven consecutive victories ... Newberry had to fend off a scrappy Claflin squad who pulled to within two points at 57-55 with 6:52 remaining in the game. However, Ashlee Wright converted two free throws while Carnicha Bellinger scored on a put-back to give the Lady Indians the hard fought 66-59 victory ... On Thursday evening, the Lady Indian defense dominated in the first stanza, holding ASU to only 19 percent shooting from the field ... In the second half, Newberry poured on the offense, going on a 21-12 run to end the game with the 66-46 victory over in-region foe ASU ... Junior forwards Tonique Frasier and Bellinger lead the way in points for Newberry, averaging 17.1 and 14.7 respectively. Frasier also leads the squad with 21 steals ... This week, Newberry will tangle with CVAC opponents Limestone College and Erskine College. The Lady Indians will play host to the Saints on Wednesday evening and will entertain the Flying Fleet in a Saturday afternoon matinee.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian was 1-2 last week … The Lady Blue Hose picked up a victory over Converse and fell to Georgia College & State and UNC Asheville … PC has yet to secure a road victory this season, but are a perfect 3-0 at home or on a neutral site … Kerianne Blease concluded the game against GCSU with six boards to set a new career-high by two caroms … Blease (Saluda, S.C.) poured in a career-high 21 points as four Blue Hose players registered double-digit scoring in Presbyterian College's 74-60 non-conference victory over the All-Stars of Converse College … The W.W. King Academy product was 8-for-13 from the field, including 4-of-7 from downtown, in 26 minutes of action … Morgan Johnson led the Blue Hose in the loss to UNCA, as the sophomore scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds … Johnson was flawless on the floor, shooting 8-for-8 and connecting on her one attempt at the charity stripe.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum College women's basketball team went 1-1 last week as it completed a tough four-game West Virginia road swing. The Pioneers (6-1) opened the week with a 97-83 road loss to undefeated Concord. Two days later, Tusculum bounced back with a 61-53 come-from-behind win at Bluefield State. In the loss at Concord, the Lady Lion shot 70 percent in the opening half to build a 55-40 lead at intermission. A 20-8 burst over the final five minutes of the stanza allowed CU to move out from a 35-32 lead. Tusculum was led by Diana Neves' 17 points. Chassity Martin had 16, while Nora Ramsey and Shantae Shank added 12 and 11 points, respectively for the Pioneers. The Tusculum bench accounted for 47 of the Pioneers' 83 points. Carlie Lakey added a game-high ten rebounds for TC. Against Bluefield, Tusculum rallied from an 11 point second half deficit and used a 17-5 run as the Pioneers were victorious. It marked the second time in a week that Tusculum has fought back from a double-digit deficit in the final period. TC rallied from 16 points down at West Virginia State, en route to a 77-72 victory. Martin tallied 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Bluefield State led through the first 31 minutes of the contest, including a 25-20 advantage at halftime. The Lady Blues enjoyed its biggest lead at the 14:53 mark of the second half at 42-31. TC answered with a 17-5 spurt, capped off by Martin's three-pointer with 8:54 remaining in the game to give the Pioneers their first lead of the night at 48-47. The lead would bounce back and forth as the Lady Blues tied the game at 52-52 following a lay-up with five minutes remaining. The Pioneers gained control of the game as it closed out the win with nine unanswered points, including a three-point play by Ashli Oliver. Lakey added 11 points, while Oliver finished with 10 markers. Brooke Underwood added eight points and a game-high 10 assists. During the Coach Missy Tiber era at Tusculum, the Pioneers are 19-3 when scoring at least 70 points. Martin has recorded 119 career three-pointers, the second most in school history... She needs seven more treys to match the school record held by former All-South Atlantic Conference performer Julie Maples (2001-05). Martin's three-tally is also 12th in league history. Oliver already has 107 three-pointers through only 34 games, which are fifth all-time. She needs two to surpass former All-American Susan Starnes (108, 1993-97). Underwood continues to shine dishing out the basketball. Her 10 assists per game average is tops in the league. Her 421 career assists are third all-time at Tusculum and the ninth most in the SAC record books. Tusculum will host Benedict College on Monday in its only action of the week.

WINGATE - Wingate University senior guard Tanetra Barrett notched 25 points, five rebounds and four assists as she led the Bulldogs to a 73-69 victory over UNC Pembroke Saturday night in the 2006 Ortho Carolina Classic in Cuddy Arena. Wingate is the number 14 team in this week's USA TODAY ESPN Division II top 25 coaches' poll ... Barrett was named the MVP of the two-night event as Wingate (6-1 overall) won two games. The 2006 All-American had a career-high 33 points Friday night as the Bulldogs topped Claflin University ... Wingate sophomore point guard Anna Atkinson joined Barrett on the All-Classic team. Atkinson had 12 points against the Braves. Bulldog senior guard Petra Nagy rounded out Wingate's double-digit scorers against UNC Pembroke with 13 points off the bench ... The Wingate University women's basketball team avenged an earlier loss to Claflin University Friday night, defeating the Panthers 74-60 in the Ortho Carolina Classic, held at Wingate's Cuddy Arena. Barrett led Wingate by scoring a career-high 33 points in the victory, shooting nine-of-13 from the field and 14-for-17 from the foul line ... Bulldog junior guard Kate Edwards nailed five three-point shots to finish with 15 points against Claflin. Edwards also collected a team-high seven rebounds for the Bulldogs in the contest. Wingate senior center Emily Paffrath contributed eight points, six blocked shots, and four assists on the night ... With 13 blocks this season, Paffrath is now the all-time South Atlantic Conference and Wingate University leader in blocked shots. She enters this week's play with 278 career blocked shots. As a freshman, she was eighth in the NCAA Division II in blocked shots per game. Paffrath was 12th as a sophomore and 14th as a junior ... Bulldog fans will have an opportunity to hear two women's basketball broadcasts on Red Zone Media this week. The Wingate University Sports Network will broadcast home women's games versus Francis Marion (Monday) and Johnson C. Smith (Saturday). The pre-game show will begin 10 minutes before the 7 p.m. tip-off for both contests ... Barrett leads the Bulldogs with an 18.4 points per game average. Barrett has poured in 20+ points in her last four contests. Atkinson is averaging 7.0 assists per game. The 5-6 floor general has an impressive assists-to-turnovers ratio, with 49 assists and only 14 turnovers this season ... Bulldog senior forward Kerri Metzker has a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game average. Metzker achieved a career-high 23 points against Queens University of Charlotte in the Queen City Classic earlier this season. Both Metzker and Barrett were named to the All-Classic team following the Queen City event ... The Wingate University women's basketball team was ranked number 14 in last week's USA TODAY ESPN Division II top 25 coaches' poll, announced by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The poll was the first ranking of the 2006-07 campaign.