Women’s Basketball Notes, January 11, 2010
Women's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending January 10, 2010.
BREVARD - The Brevard Tornados went 0-2 on the week losing to Lenoir-Rhyne, 78-67, on Wednesday and to Lincoln Memorial, 74-56 on Saturday … Samantha Winn, who was second in the nation in scoring last week averaging 22.8 points per game, led the Tornados with 15 points against Lenoir-Rhyne, along with Brianna Worley who also scored 15 for Brevard … The Tornados shot 50 percent from beyond the arc, 80 percent from the free throw line, and 44 percent from the field against the Bears … Worley led Brevard against Lincoln Memorial scoring 13 points followed by Amanda Whitaker who had 11 while adding nine rebounds, four assists, and a steal … Brevard travels for three road games this week first at Truett-McConnell on Monday before they return to conference action against Catawba on Wednesday and Wingate on Saturday.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The No. 13 Carson-Newman women's basketball team got a tough conference road win Saturday as it defeated Mars Hill by an 88-80 score ... With the win, C-N improves to 13-0 on the year with a 3-0 mark in the South Atlantic Conference to continue its best start in school history ... The Lady Eagles, who struggled in the first half, got to the free throw line 35 times after the break and scored their final 14 points of the contest from the charity stripe ... Senior guard Ashley Kyle led all players with 23 points, 10-for-15 from the free throw line, and added four rebounds, four assists and three steals ... Junior guard Mandy Mendenhall had 19 points, dished-out a game-high seven assists and recorded three blocks while senior forward Shari Buford posted her third double-double in five games with 16 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals ... C-N outshot Mars Hill by a 46.7 percent to 41.9 percent mark from the floor and 25-for-38 to 11-for-15 from the free throw line ... The Lady Eagles are ranked the second-highest ever in school history and should move up in this weeks poll as three teams lost ahead of them ... Carson-Newman will host Wingate, which is receiving votes, on Wednesday at Holt Fieldhouse at 6 p.m., and will travel to Tusculum on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest.
CATAWBA - The Catawba women claimed its first league win of the season on Wednesday with a 64-59 win over Wingate then fell 71-55 at Tusculum on Saturday ... The Lady Indians shot just 30 percent against Wingate, but pulled out the win with a 22-of-26 performance at the line ... A 16-2 run midway through the second half proved to be the difference as the Lady Indians turned a 38-31 deficit into a 47-40 lead ... Leading by nine with two minutes to go, the Lady Indians survived a late Wingate rally that saw the Bulldogs have a pair of shots to tie the game ... Catawba held on, hitting on 10 striaght at the line in the final 4:24 ... Catawba has missed only three of 59 free throws over the last two seasons in the final two minutes when the score is within single digits ... Milica Ivanovic led the Lady Indians with 26 points ... Dana Hicks scored nine points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds ... Nisha Long added eight points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals ... The Lady Indians managed to shot only 25.7 percent in the loss at Tusculum ... Catawba held a brief lead in the first half at 9-8, but fell behind 34-20 at the half and never got back into the game ... Ivanovic scored 11 points, but was only 4-of-18 shooting and missed all 11 of her three-point attempts ... Hicks had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Elizabeth Merritt added 10 points and eight rebounds ... For the game, Catawba went 3-of-26 from behind the arc ... Three Lady Indians, Ivanovic, Hicks and Long are averaging 13 points a game ... Hicks is pulling down 9.6 rebounds a contest ... Catawba will host Brevard for its Wedesday contest this week and travel to Mars Hill on Saturday.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University women's basketball team (10-4, 3-1) split its two South Atlantic Conference road games last week, defeating Brevard (78-67) on Wednesday before falling to Newberry (77-59) on Saturday … Sophomore guard Cameron Sealey (Gastonia, N.C.) led L-R with 16 points as the Bears raced to a 30-9 lead and was able to hold on for the win … Senior center Denise Moore (Newport News, Va.) added 16 points on eight-of-10 shooting as Lenoir-Rhyne increased its advantage to as many as 21 points (74-53) late in the contest en route to the win … Newberry's Anita Bulcher led the way with a double-double (19 points and 12 rebounds, both game-highs) as the Scarlet and Gray moved into a second-place in the South Atlantic Conference with the Bears … Senior guards Jami Safrit (Hickory, N.C.) and Brittany Mitch (McLean, Va.) each scored 15 points for Lenoir-Rhyne, who trailed by as many as 24 points (53-29) in the second half … Newberry also held a 41-21 rebounding edge and limited the Bears to just 35 percent shooting (18-of-51) for the game … Newberry also handed L-R its first loss of the season and defeated the Bears for the second straight year at home … Senior guard Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) ranks sixth in Lenoir-Rhyne's all-time list for points (1,323) and is tied for third in assists (362) … Moore (935) and Safrit (929) looked to become the 15th and 16th players in school history to scored 1,000 points in their Bear careers … Lenoir-Rhyne has won 10 straight South Atlantic Conference games at home and is 4-0 this year at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium … L-R returns home to face Mars Hill (Wednesday at 6 p.m.) and Lincoln Memorial (Saturday at 6 p.m.) in a pair of league matches … Mars Hill leads the all-time series with Lenoir-Rhyne, 33-31, but the Bears have won eight straight in the series including all three contests last season … L-R also holds a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series with Lincoln Memorial and has won three consecutive against the Lady Railsplitters.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - A pair of free throws with 0.5 seconds enabled LMU to pull out the 74-72 win over Tusculum in South Atlantic Conference action Wednesday evening … The win was LMU's first over the Pioneers since 2005 and snapped the Tusculum's 29 game home winning streak, which was the second-longest home winning streak in NCAA Division II … Tusculum led at the half 39-33 … Tusculum's Jasmine Gunn made two free throws to put Tusculum up 70-69 with 24 seconds to go … LMU then went down the court and Carolyn Mills hit a big three-pointer with 14 seconds to go … Gunn then drove down the court and hit a 10 foot jumper to tie the game 72-72 with 4.7 seconds left … Dayshalee Salaman then drove down the court and drew a foul from Tusculum's Catherine Hintz with 0.5 seconds to go. After a Tusculum timeout, Salaman hit both free throws to put LMU up 74-72. The inbounds pass was then picked off by LMU's Amberly O'Dell to seal the victory … LMU (3-9, 1-2 SAC) was led by Salaman and Mills with 24 points each … O'Dell added in ten points … Mills, Blandine Kikwiki-Mamuku and Whitney Holmes shared the honors on the boards as each pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Lady Railsplitters … Tusculum won the rebounding battle, outrebounding LMU 52-43 … The Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team picked up its second South Atlantic Conference win of the week when the Lady Railsplitters rolled over Brevard College 74-56 at home on Saturday afternoon to improve to 2-2 in league play … The Lady Railsplitters took control of Saturday's game with Brevard in the first half and turned it into their second league win of the year with good shot selection, limited turnovers and solid team play by tallying 20 assists … Sophomore guard Dayshalee Salaman led all scorers with 16 points while finshing with a double-double by also handing out 10 assists … Amberly O'Dell was again a force from the perimeter as she knocked down four 3-pointers from the field to finish the game with 12 points and teammates Cena Nasiloski and Blandine Kikwiki Mamuku each had 10 points in the paint … Junior forward Whitney Holmes led LMU on the glass with nine rebounds on the night … Saturday's win improves the LMU women to 4-9 overall and 2-2 in South Atlantic Conference play while Brevard falls to 5-7 overall and 0-4 in the league … The Lady Railsplitters will play host to Newberry College on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Tex Turner Arena.
MARS HILL - The Mars Hill women's basketball team went 0-2 during the previous week of play against Newberry and No. 13-ranked Carson-Newman. Brittini Young and Taylor Deal combined to score 39 points, but it wasn't enough as Mars Hill lost to Newberry 70-62 at Eleazer Arena ... Newberry opened the game on a 7-0 run. A layup by Anita Bulcher at the 16:35 mark concluded the spurt before a layup by Beth Miller got Mars Hill on the board ... A three-pointer by Margaret Harvey with 7:31 left in the half got the Lions within one point, 17-16, but Newberry closed the period on a 10-2 run. Jessica Bearzatto was 3-3 from the free throw line during the stretch as Newberry led 27-18 at halftime ... An old-fashioned three-point play by Bulcher one minute into the second half gave Newberry its first double-digit lead, 30-18, of the game ... The Lions answered with an 8-1 spurt in the span of 1:55. Deal had six points during the run, and a fastbreak layup by Narcissa Grayson with 17:32 left in the game cut the deficit to 31-26 in favor of Newberry ... Newberry responded and outscored Mars Hill 28-19 over the next 10 minutes to seal the game. Two free throws by LeAnne Watson gave Newberry its largest advantage, 59-45, of the game at the 5:06 mark ... A jumper by Young in the paint with 47 seconds remaining got the Lions within three points at 63-60, but the rally fell short as time expired ... Young led all scorers with 22 points. Deal pumped in 17. Harvey recorded nine points for Mars Hill ... Newberry was 22-32 from the charity stripe, while Mars Hill was only 7-18. Newberry outrebounded the Lions 56-41 ... No. 13-ranked Carson-Newman defeated Mars Hill 88-80 on Saturday inside Stanford Arena. The Lions drop to 4-10 overall and 1-2 in the league ... Mars Hill opened the game on an 8-2 run. Three-point shots by Brittini Young and Krystal Moore ... The Lady Eagles responded with back-to-back buckets, including a trey, by Mandy Mendenhall to cut the deficit to one point at the 14:44 mark. Carson-Newman tied the game at 10 off a shot from behind the arc by Katlin Moore ... With the Lady Eagles leading 17-14, Margaret Harvey converted an old-fashioned three-point play nine minutes into the first half to knot the game ... Trailing 22-20, the Lions went on an 8-0 run in the span of 1:27. Beth Miller had five points during the stretch, and Young hit a three to give Mars Hill a 28-22 advantage with 7:41 left in the first half ... Carson-Newman regained the lead 35-34 with one minute remaining off a jumper by Ashley Kyle, but a Miller eight-foot jumper as time expired gave the Lions a 37-35 lead at halftime ... After Zoriah Williams hit the opening shot of the half for the Lady Eagles, Mars Hill opened up a five-point lead, 44-39, off a three by Young ... Carson-Newman answered with an 8-0 run, culminated by a jumper by Mendenhall, to grab its first lead of the second half, 47-44 ... After Moore scored seven straight points for Mars Hill, Kaitlin Moore drilled a trey at the 14:02 mark to tie the game at 53 ... The Lady Eagles opened up a six-point lead, 62-56, at the midway point of the second half off a jumper by Mendenhall ... The Lions responded with a 10-2 spurt. Narcissa Grayson hit a layup at the 7:28 mark to give Mars Hill a 66-64 advantage ... Carson-Newman grabbed another six-point lead, 72-66, off a jumper by Mendenhall. The Lions went scoreless for over four minutes before Harvey hit a free throw at the 3:37 mark to cut the deficit to five points ... The Lady Eagle lead swelled to nine points, 76-67, off two free throws by Shari Buford with just under three minutes to play ... Mars Hill cut the Carson-Newman lead to 81-76 with one minute remaining in the game off two free thows by Young, but the Lions could get no closer ... Young finished with 18 points. Moore added 12 points ... The Lady Eagles blocked eight shots compared to none for the Lions. Carson-Newman was also 25-38 from the charity stripe while Mars Hill was just 11-15 ... The Lions will travel to Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday. The game will start at 6 p.m.
NEWBERRY - The Newberry College women's basketball team excelled in a pair of victories over Mars Hill and Lenoir-Rhyne last week … Newberry (10-4, 3-1 SAC) averaged a +13.0 point margin of victory and a +17.5 rebound margin in the games … Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) earned her eighth and ninth double-doubles of the season … Newberry outlasted Mars Hill in a pivotal South Atlantic Conference matchup on Wednesday night ... Newberry was outshot from the field, but dominated the boards in order to rally to a 70-62 win … Newberry gained the upper hand once more and closed the half on a 10-2 run which took them into the locker room with a 27-18 lead … Newberry saw its biggest lead at 14 points with just over five minutes to play in the second half … The Lions weren't through, however, and embarked on 12-3 run to draw within four points with a minute to play … Newberry had opportunities to put the game away down the stretch but failed to convert on free throws that would have put it out of reach ... The scarlet and gray did manage to shut down the Lions defensively, however, and thwarted any potential comeback efforts … Bulcher shined yet again with 15 points and 20 rebounds ... LeAnne Watson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) achieved a double-double as well with 15 points and 13 rebounds on the night … Newberry shot over 50 percent from the field in a pivotal 77-59 SAC victory over Lenoir-Rhyne … Newberry's shooters dominated the affair, rallying to shoot 52 percent (26-50) from the field in the game and 58.3 percent (7-12) on three-point attempts … The scarlet and gray shot 60 percent (15-25) in the second half as they ran away from the Bears ... Newberry pulled down 41 rebounds compared to just 21 for the Bears and didn't allow the Bears a single offensive rebound in the second half after surrendering eight in the first ... Bulcher led all scorers in the affair after she exploded for 17 second-half points … She ended the night with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the game … Amy Browne (Maroochydore, Australia) mustered 13 points as well as four assists in the game and shot 3-4 (.750) on three-pointers … Newberry will embark on its longest road trip of the season next week when it travels to Harrogate, Tenn., to face Lincoln-Memorial on January 13.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum College women's basketball team posted a 1-1 record in South Atlantic Conference play last week, falling at home for the first time in nearly three years at home with a last-second 74-72 loss to Lincoln Memorial before defeating Catawba 71-55 on Saturday … Tusculum saw its school-record 29-game home winning streak come to an end on Wednesday against Lincoln Memorial, falling to the Railsplitters in the closing moments by a score of 74-72, ending the second-longest active home winning streak in the NCAA Division II … Four players scored in double figures for the Pioneers, led by Jasmine Gunn with 18 points … Senior Kat Spears chipped in 15 points while Staci Hicks turned in her first double-double of the season with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds … Gunn posted a game-high four steals, marking the sixth time this season she has notched four or more steals … Tusculum out-rebounded the Railsplitters 52-43 on the night, posting its second 50-rebound game of the season while extending its streak of 40 or more boards to six contests … Junior center Catherine Hintz turned in a career performance on Saturday against Catawba, posting personal bests with 17 points, 20 rebounds and five blocked shots while knocking down 8-of-10 attempts from the floor … All-American Jasmine Gunn led all scorers with 19 points, connecting on 7-of-13 attempts from the floor while pulling down five rebounds and dishing out five assists ... Jasmine Parker (15) and Staci Hicks (12) also scored in double figures for the Pioneers as Parker tied Gunn's game-high of five assists while pulling down seven boards … The Pioneers shot at least 45 percent from the field for the eighth time this season, knocking down 45.8 percent of their field goal attempts on the night … Tusculum also extended its streak of 40 or more rebounds to seven games, winning the battle on the glass by a 49-44 margin, including a 36-26 edge on the defensive boards … The Pioneers lead the conference in scoring (78.7) and field goal percentage (43.7), while ranking second in rebounding (44.9) and steals (153) … Freshman Kendal Baxter has already put together one of the best rookie seasons in program history, having knocked down 43 three-pointers thus far, which is the third-highest total by a freshman in school history … The Pioneers have six players averaging more than eight points per game, including the scoring duo of Gunn and Baxter, who have combined for nearly 30 markers per contest through 13 games … Spears is now within striking distance of the program's all-time blocked shots record, currently sitting third all-time with 123 career rejections, 18 behind former teammate Stephany Neptune's school-record total of 141 blocks … Gunn currently ranks in the top 10 in seven career categories, including assists (3rd/424), free throws made (4th/325), free throws attempted (4th/420), steals (8th/167), while ranking first all-time in program history with an average of 5.7 assists per game … Tusculum concludes its four-game home stand this week with a non-conference matchup against the University of the District of Columbia on Tuesday before resuming its SAC schedule against archrival Carson-Newman College on Saturday in Pioneer Arena.
WINGATE - Wingate University sprinted to a 41-17 halftime lead and never looked back, picking up an 81-53 NCAA Division II women's basketball victory over North Greenville University Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldogs led by as many as 33 points in the second half ... With the victory, Wingate improves to 8-5 overall. The Bulldogs return to South Atlantic Conference play Wednesday night, traveling to number 13 Carson-Newman College for a 6 p.m. contest ... Bulldog senior center Stacie Rhodes led the balanced Wingate attack with 14 points. Rhodes hit six-of-12 shots from the field. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® candidate added five rebounds and a game-high four blocks to her statistics ledger ... Wingate junior forward Stefani Shuey and freshman guard Britney Mitchell added 10 points each. Shuey was a perfect five-for-five from the floor. Twelve of the 13 Bulldogs who participated hit the scoring column. The Wingate bench outscored the North Greenville reserves 39-9 Saturday ... North Greenville led 10-8 following a three-point field goal at the 14:17 mark of the first half. The NGU Crusaders did not score again for nine minutes as the host Bulldogs made a 20-0 run to take the lead for good. Shuey finished the flurry with back-to-back inside hoops, the second at 5:34 to put Wingate up 28-10. North Greenville ended the drought with a fast-break basket at 5:23, but the Crusaders would get no closer than 14 the rest of the way ... Shuey hit a jumper in the paint to put the Bulldogs up 56-23 with 15:20 remaining in the contest. The 33-point bulge was Wingate's largest lead of the afternoon. Shuey was not the only Bulldog post player to shoot 100 percent Saturday; freshman forward Tish Logan was three-for-three from the floor, while junior forward Jessy Keitt was two-for-two. Wingate shot 66.7 percent (16-of-24) in the second half ... The Bulldogs outscored the Crusaders 48-10 in the paint. Wingate converted 30 North Greenville turnovers into 28 points. The Crusaders could only muster 15 points from 31 Bulldog miscues. Wingate had 14 second-chance points and 18 fast-break markers. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Crusaders 43-24. Mitchell and Keitt topped the Wingate rebounding charts with six boards each ... For the game, Wingate shot 55.9 percent from the field (33-of-59). North Greenville hit 30.4 percent of its field goals (17-of-56). The Crusaders managed only 17.9 percent field goal shooting (five-of-28) in the opening 20 minutes. NGU hit 42.9 percent after intermission (12-of-28) ... The Catawba College women's basketball team survived a furious Wingate rally Wednesday night, taking a 64-59 SAC victory over the visiting Bulldogs in Goodman Gymnasium ... Wingate sophomore guard/forward Kurie Washington topped the Bulldog charts with 25 points. She was the only Wingate player to hit double digits Wednesday night ... Wingate led 38-31 on a jumper by Logan with 14:51 remaining in the contest. Catawba answered with a 16-2 run to take a 47-40 lead at the 8:21 mark. Catawba pushed the advantage to 55-44 with 3:58 to play. The 11-point bulge was the Tribe's biggest lead of the evening. Washington answered with a field goal on the next trip down the floor, ending an 11-minute field goal drought for the visitors ... The Bulldogs did not fold the tents, as Wingate had two chances to tie the contest in the waning moments. Catawba led 58-48 at the 2:11 plateau. Washington went on a personal 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 58-53 with 1:18 to go ... The hosts nudged the lead to 60-53 with 54 seconds left. Rhodes converted a put-back hoop with 43 seconds to play. Catawba turned the ball over and Washington hit a jumper with 30 seconds to go, making the game a one-possession contest at 60-57 Indians ... Washington was fouled on the play, but the 2009 SAC Freshman of the Year could not complete the old-fashioned three-point play. Catawba made another turnover. Wingate freshman guard Sarah Wollett missed a three-pointer and Washington missed a follow shot. The Bulldogs were forced to foul and the Indians made two free throws with 18 seconds left to make the score 62-57 Catawba ... Wollett hit a huge jumper with 12 ticks left on the clock, pulling the Bulldogs within three at 62-59. Catawba made another turnover with nine seconds remaining, giving the visitors another chance. Wingate missed a jumper and the rebound went out of bounds to the Bulldogs. A Wingate player stepped out of bounds before the visitors could get a shot at the basket ... Catawba hit only 30 percent from the field (18-of-60). The Indians hit nine-of-30 attempts in each half. On the evening, the hosts made six-of-11 trifectas (54.5 percent). Catawba made 84.6 percent from the charity stripe (22-of-26). The Indians entered the contest hitting only 68.7 percent from the foul line ... The opportunistic Indians converted 22 Wingate turnovers into 23 points. Wingate won the rebounding battle 43-42, thanks to 11 boards by Rhodes. She flirted with a triple-double, as Rhodes filled out her personal stat sheet with nine points and a career-high seven blocked shots ... Wingate blocked a season-high 14 shots Wednesday. Bulldog junior forward Erica Crumlin rejected a season-high six shots. Crumlin contributed six points and nine rebounds to the Wingate cause.