Women’s Basketball Notes, February 21, 2011
Women's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending February 20, 2011:
ANDERSON - Senior guard Ashley Abed dropped in the game-winning layup with four seconds remaining to lift Anderson to a 67-65 upset win past league-leading Tusculum last Wednesday as the Trojans avenged an earlier setback to the Lady Pioneers, while freshman sharpshooter Emily Willoughby came off the bench and connected on a South Atlantic Conference record eight 3-pointers to lead Anderson past Lincoln Memorial, 71-47. The Trojans are making a late-season surge, having won four of last their last five outings and have clinched a berth in next month's conference tournament. AU led Tusculum by 16 points with less than seven minutes remaining, then held off a furious rally by the visitors. Sophomore Breonda Shannon averaged nearly a double-double on the week, with 12.5 points and eight rebounds, while Ashley Abed and Alissa Diaz added an average of 11.5 points per contest. Anderson closes out the regular-season slate with a two-game road swing.
BREVARD - The Brevard College Tornados went 0-2 this week after falling to both Lincoln Memorial and Lenoir-Rhyne...The Brevard College women's basketball team was unable to top the Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters at home as they fell 69-66...Lindsay Brendle was able to set a BC record for free throws attempted and made, while scoring a career-high 24 points...Brendle also set Brevard College records by attempting 17 free-throws and hitting 13 of them in the game. Anna Schlobohm finished with 15 points, while Holli Flippo had 11...The Brevard College women's basketball team was unable to cage the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears on Saturday afternoon as they fell 65-40 at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium in Hickory, North Carolina...Schlobohm led the offensive charge with 14 points off of the bench...Brendle was able to chip in with 11 points. Amanda Whitaker was the defensive leader as she came up with four steals in the loss. Brevard shot just 11-of-54 from the field, 20.8%. The Tornados hit just three three-point buckets and shot 13% from beyond the arc.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles went 1-1 on the week, winning at home against Mars Hill on Wednesday before falling at Newberry on Saturday afternoon...The Lady Eagles are now 11-15 overall and 7-9 in the South Atlantic Conference...C-N defeated Mars Hill 85-78 on Wednesday, as junior forward Zoriah Williams recorded her fifth consecutive double-double to lead the way...Williams scored 12 points in the first half as she helped lead a Lady Eagles surge over the final eight minutes of the opening period...Williams ended the game with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six steals...Carson-Newman trailed by one with a little under 13 minutes to go in the first half...It would be the last time the Lady Lions would come close to the lead as Williams found her way behind the Mars Hill defense to put C-N back ahead 16-15...Senior guard Mandy Mendenhall put C-N up by seven with a jumper...Five minutes later the Lady Eagles were taking an 11-point lead into halftime...Mendenhall finished the game with 11 points...C-N's Shannon Depew had a big game inside the paint as well as Mars Hill had no answer for the Lady Eagles interior size...Depew scored 18 points and pulled down eight rebounds...Sophomore guard Candis Clear scored 10 points for the Lady Eagles...Senior guard Amber Blackwell had a solid game coming off the bench, scoring seven points...The Lady Eagles closed out the week with a 65-61 loss at Newberry...C-N trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half before whittling Newberry's lead down to four as time expired...Mendenhall fired in 22 points to lead C-N, while Depew added 11 points in the loss...The Lady Eagles return to action on Wednesday at Lincoln Memorial...Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
CATAWBA - The Catawba women dropped a pair of tight games last week, falling 65-63 in overtime to Lenoir-Rhyne and 55-51 at Tusculum on Saturday ... Milica Ivanovic tossed in 19 points vs. LR, while Dana Hicks scored 13 points and pulled down 16 rebounds ... Ivanovic put Catawba up 53-52 with 44 seconds left in regulation and Elizabeth Merritt forced the extra time on a jumper with six seconds remaining ... LR scored the first seven points of overtime before Catawba rallied to take a 63-62 lead on another Merritt jumper with a minute left ... LR got a tying free throw and following a Catawba turnover the Bears hit the winning shot with four seconds remaining ... against Tusculum, the Lady Indians rallied from 13 points down with eight minutes to play ... Catawba cut the margin to 53-51 with 3:18 left, but neither team could scored from there until Tusculum hit a pair of free throws to ice the game with four seconds remaining ... Hicks led Catawba with 19 points and eight rebounds ... Hicks is averaging 16.5 points and 11.3 rebounds a contest ... Ivanovic, who has canned 62 three-pointers, is adding 15.4 a game ... the Lady Indians finish up the regular season with a road trip to Mars Hill on Wednesday and a home game with Newberry on Saturday afternoon.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University Women's Basketball Team (14-10, 11-5) moved into sole possession of second place in the South Atlantic Conference standings with a pair of victories over Catawba (65-63 in overtime) on the road Wednesday and Brevard (65-40) at home on Saturday … Freshman forward Whitney Brinkley (Asheville, N.C.) hit the game-winning field goal in overtime with four seconds left to lift the Bears to the win over the Indians, their eighth straight over Catawba … Sophomore guard Whitley Culler (Mount Airy, N.C.) finished with team-high 16 points while junior guard Cameron Sealey (Mount Holly, N.C.) and sophomore guard Caroline Laughter (Hickory, N.C.) added 15 points each for L-R, who limited Catawba to just 33 percent (22-for-67) shooting for the game … L-R improved to 11-0 all-time against Brevard Saturday behind a game-high 18 points from Sealey … Culler added 11 points as the Bears held a 52-24 advantage on the boards and limited the Tornados to just 20 percent (11-of-54) from the floor … Sealey also became the 17th player in school history to score 1,000 points in her career (she now has 1,011) … Lenoir-Rhyne is 6-1 in its last seven games and 8-2 in its last 10 contests … L-R faces league-leading Tusculum Wednesday at 6 p.m., as part of Senior Night (Ashley Pearson will be honored prior to the contest) before traveling to Harrogate, Tenn., to take on Lincoln Memorial Saturday in the regular season finale beginning at 6 p.m. … Tusculum handed L-R a 50-49 loss earlier in the year while Lenoir-Rhyne pulled out a 74-73 win over Lincoln Memorial in the two teams' earlier contests.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - LMU snapped a seven-game losing streak as they rallied back from 12 points down to pull out the 69-66 win at Brevard…. Brevard pulled out to a 12 point lead early in the game…. LMU started to cut into it at the three-minute mark, eventually cutting it to 32-28 at the half…. LMU took a quick lead coming out of the locker room, but Brevard made a run of their own and eventually tied the game at 40-40…. There were 13 ties and seven lead changes in the second half as neither team could pull away…. A trey by Carrie Ann Harris put LMU up 67-66 with 14 seconds remaining. Brevard then took the ball to half court and called time out. Lindsey Brendle missed a game-winning lay-up that was rebounded by LMU's Kendra Holmes with two seconds left. She was immediately fouled and hit both free throws to give LMU the 69-66 lead. LMU then sealed the win when Brevard turned the ball over on the inbounds pass….. Dayshalee Salaman came off the bench to lead LMU with 20 points. Patrice Talley also came off the bench and added in 16 points…. A 15-2 run by Anderson early in the second half broke open a close game and the Trojans cruised to the 71-47 win…. LMU (9-15, 4-12 SAC) was led by Patrice Talley's 12 points….. After taking a 5-4 lead on a three-pointer from Dayshalee Salaman, the Lady Railsplitters led for a large chunk of the first half…. AU tied the game at 18-18 with 8:39 remaining and then outscored LMU 8-3 the rest of the half to lead 26-36 at the intermission… After the teams traded a basket to make the score 28-25, the Trojans then caught fire and outscored LMU 15-2 over the next 4:30 to make the lead 48-27… Anderson would then slowly add to that lead, eventually winning 71-47…. LMU will close out the regular season at home with games against Carson-Newman next Wednesday and Lenoir-Rhyne next Saturday.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 0-2 during the previous week of play to fall to 15-9, 8-8 in the SAC. The Lions lost at Carson-Newman, 85-78, and at Wingate, 84-73. Brittini Young averaged 18 points per game. Tyler Carlson averaged 14. Taylor Deal averaged 13.5 points and nine rebounds. Against the Lady Eagles, Young led Mars Hill with 22 points. Carlson pumped in 16 points, while Margaret Harvey had 10. Deal led the Lions with seven rebounds. Against the Bulldogs, Deal recorded a double-double for Mars Hill with 20 points and 11 rebounds, with nine coming on the offensive glass. Young and Carlson came up with 14 and 12, respectively. Kristen Metcalf had eight. The Lions will host Catawba on Wednesday and Tusculum on Saturday to close the regular season.
NEWBERRY - The Newberry Wolves won a pair of games last week to set themselves up in prime position for a top four seed in the Food Lion SAC Tournament with just two regular season games remaining… The Wolves are now 15-9 overall and 10-6 in league play… On Wednesday, the Wolves avenged an earlier loss with a 66-50 romp over Wingate… Senior Helen McKinney netted a career-best six three-pointers on the way to 28 points, while Leanne Watson scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds… The Wolves limited Wingate to just 32.2% shooting from the field and held the Bulldogs scoreless in the final six and a half minutes of the first half… On Saturday, the Wolves took off to a big second half lead and held off a Carson-Newman rally in a 65-61 victory… Watson scored a career-high 23 points, shooting 8-of-15 from the field and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe… McKinney had 13 points and seven rebounds, while Jessica Bearzatto had nine assists and three steals… The Wolves close out the regular season with a home game against Brevard at 6 p.m. Wednesday and a road game at Catawba at 2 p.m. Saturday.
TUSCULUM - The Pioneers (17-7, 13-3 SAC) locked up no worse than a share of the SAC regular-season title for the third time in the last four years with a 55-51 victory over Catawba on Saturday afternoon. Earlier in the week, the Pioneers had their 10-game winning streak come to an end with a 67-65 loss at Anderson... Against Catawba, the Pioneers led by 13 points with 12 minutes left but were forced to hold on in the final seconds to pick up the win. Senior guard Jasmine Gunn (Nashville, Tenn.) led the way for Tusculum with 20 points, including the clinching free throws with 4.0 seconds to go. Senior center Catherine Hintz (Hastings, Minn.) added 12 points and eight rebounds, and sophomore guard Kendal Baxter (Sevierville, Tenn.) posted 11 points off the bench. Senior guard Jasmine Parker (Rex, Ga.) grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds in the victory... Against Anderson, the Pioneers trailed 60-44 with just over seven minutes left but tied the game at 65-65 on a steal and layup by junior forward Linda Aughburns (Fayetteville, N.C.) with 23 seconds left. The Trojans answered with the game-winning basket with four seconds to play. Gunn scored a game-high 21 points for the Pioneers, with Hintz adding 13 points and nine boards... The Pioneers had outrebounded nine straight opponents before Catawba finished with a slender 41-40 advantage on the boards... Tusculum finished the regular season with a 10-0 record at Pioneer Arena, and the Pioneers have won 13 straight home games dating to last season... The Pioneers can win the outright SAC regular-season title with wins in either of their last two games, Wednesday at Lenoir-Rhyne (6 p.m.) and Saturday at Mars Hill (2 p.m.).
WINGATE - Wingate University freshman guard Janitsha Williams poured in a career-high 24 points off the bench, including four three-pointers, as the Bulldogs defeated the Mars Hill College Lions 84-73 in South Atlantic Conference action at Cuddy Arena on Saturday afternoon. Williams led four Bulldogs in double digits … Junior guard Kurie Washington scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, senior guard CC Brooks had 15 points and eight rebounds and junior guard Tiffany Brown added 13 points and five steals as Wingate (15-9 overall, 10-6 SAC) split the season series with Mars Hill. The Wingate-Mars Hill contest matched the top two offenses in the league … Wingate led 38-30 at the half, thanks to 11 points from Brooks. The Bulldogs extended their advantage to 52-37 with 13:24 left in the second half after a pair of Brown free throws. A 24-10 Lions run trimmed the MHC deficit to 62-61 with 5:34 remaining … With the Bulldogs clinging to a 67-65 lead with 3:28 left, Williams hit two of her four treys on back-to-back possessions to restore a sizeable lead. Wingate made eight-of-10 free throws down the stretch as the Bulldogs moved to 8-2 at home this season … Williams leads the Bulldogs this season with 29 three-pointers. Wingate hit 11-of-20 triples Saturday (55 percent). Five different players hit a long-range jumper. Brooks, Brown and Washington hit two each to supplement Williams' quartet of triples. Sophomore forward Tish Logan hit a halftime buzzer-beater from 40 feet, her first three-point attempt of the season. The Bulldogs hit 12 three-pointers at Carson-Newman on March 4, 2009 … Williams broke out of her mini-slump in a huge way. She hit seven-of-11 from the field and four-of-seven from downtown. In Wingate's previous four contests, she shot 31.6 percent from the floor (12-of-38). The Bulldogs shot at a 46.3 percent clip Saturday (25-of-54). Brooks and Williams helped Wingate hold a 43-14 advantage in bench scoring … Newberry earned a 66-50 SAC women's basketball victory over Wingate Wednesday night in Cuddy Arena. Washington had 13 points, while junior forward Simone Rutledge contributed 12 points and six rebounds. Rutledge made six-of-10 field goals Wednesday … Wingate is 8-2 in Cuddy Arena this season. In 10 home games, Wingate is averaging 76.5 points per game. In 12 away games, the Bulldogs average 65.3 points per game. Wingate leads the South Atlantic Conference in free throw percentage (76.4), three-point field goal percentage (36.9) and field goal percentage defense (37.0) … The Bulldogs will honor senior CC Brooks in a post-game ceremony Wednesday night as Wingate hosts Anderson (S.C.) University. Brooks is contributing 8.0 points per game to the Bulldog cause. She shares the team lead in steals (35). Last year, Brooks was second on the Wingate team charts with her 8.8 points per game. Her 38 steals topped the 2009-10 Bulldog charts. As a freshman, Brooks helped lead the Bulldogs to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.