Weekly SAC Women’s Basketball Notes - Nov. 20

CARSON-NEWMAN - With two wins, head coach Dean Walsh improved his coaching record to 91-0 when his teams score 80 or more points. The Lady Eagles scored 82 points against Brevard and 88 points against Alabama-Huntsville … In both games this past weekend, the Lady Eagles had three players score in double figures. In Friday's game vs. UAH, Shari Buford scored 21 points while Ashley Tipton and Stefanie Holbrook scored 10 points apiece. In Saturday's game, Holbrook led the Lady Eagles with 17 points, while Emily Mason scored 16 and Angela Volentine scored 10 points…. Emily Mason recorded the first double-double of her career with 16 points and 14 rebounds against Brevard.

CATAWBA - The Catawba women opened with a split of its games at the Augusta State Courtyard Classic … Catawba fell 74-63 to USC-Aiken on Friday, but rebounded to take a 76-68 win over the host Jaguars on Saturday afternoon … Aiken shot 60 percent in the Friday win and held a 34-20 edge on the boards … Catawba recovered from a poor shooting first half (39 percent) to can 57 percent in the second half … Catawba rallied from an 11-point deficit with just under seven minutes to play to cut the margin to 63-61 with 3:41 to go … A pair of turnovers helped Aiken to a 7-0 run to seal the win … Hillary Hampton came off the bench and led Catawba with 15 points, hitting 3-of-5 from long range … Gia Colombo had nine assists and three steals … Against Augusta, Catawba jumped to a 15-point first half advantage … Junior transfer Sicilia LoSauro scored 15 of her game-high 18 points in the opening half, hitting all six of her shots with two three-pointers … The Jaguars battled back to tie the contest in the opening five minutes of the second half, but a 10-0 Catawba run helped the ladies take a 62-48 lead with eight minutes remaining … ASU got within two at the 2:10 mark, but Foster had a bucket and later a three-point play to ice the game … Foster had 16 points, 11 after the break, and grabbed six rebounds … Cameron Clark and Corin Muldrow came off the bench to add 12 and 11 points, respectively … Catawba hit on 5-of-8 three pointers and were 19-of-27 at the line in the win … Catawba travels to St. Augustine's on Tuesday and will host the Comfort Suites Classic over the Thanksgiving weekend with games against Livingstone and Francis Marion.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne women's basketball team opened its season with a pair of wins at the Eagle Club Classic in Jefferson City, Tenn., last Friday and Saturday … L-R opened the year with a 78-66 win over Brevard before downing Alabama-Huntsville, 79-62 … Against the Tornadoes, freshman forward Tiaera Reynolds led the Bears with 21 points on seven-of-10 shooting while sophomore forward Ashlei Helton added 13 points in the victory … The Bears, after falling behind 9-3 to start the contest, reeled off 13 straight points for a 16-9 advantage and never looked back … Lenoir-Rhyne kept the pressure on a led by as many as 23 (56-33) with 11 minutes left … Brevard did cut the margin to eight, at 71-63, with under 60 seconds left the margin was too great … L-R fell behind early as well to the Lady Chargers, 20-11 midway through the first half, but put together a 12-0 run and eventually to a 46-35 advantage into the break … The Bears kept rolling and eventually increased the margin to 21 (65-44) with 11 minutes remaining in the contest and cruised to the win … Freshman guard Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) nearly had a triple-double in the vicotry: 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds … Freshman guard Jami Safrit (Newton, N.C.) and sophomore center Denise Moore (Newport News, Va.) chipped in with 13 points apiece while Moore pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for the team's second player with a double-double … Lenoir-Rhyne opens the 2006-07 home portion of its schedule on Tuesday at 6 p.m., against Armstrong Atlantic State at Shuford Gymnasium … The Bears lead the all-time series with the Lady Pirates, 3-1.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The Lady Railsplitters went 1-1 on the week with a 55-50 win at home over Lees-McRae and a 63-54 loss at Kentucky State … Senior point guard Betsy Bowser led LMU with 15 points … Madeline Richards also scored 11 points … Freshman center Andi Winney pulled down 10 rebounds in her LMU debut … Against Kentucky State the Lady Railsplitters got behind by as many as 16 points in the first half … Despite cutting the KY State lead down to one on two occasions they were never able to make up the difference ... LMU owned the boards by a 55-36 margin ... LMU was led by Sidney Johnson who came off the bench for 10 points and a team-high 8 rebounds … The Lady Railsplitters will host USC Upstate on Nov. 21 and then have a break for Thanksgiving before returning to action on Nov. 28 against Brevard.

MARS HILL - MHC opened the 2007-07 season 1-1 at the Augusta State Classic ... Augusta State sophomore forward Tracey Paschal nailed a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining to lift the Lady Jaguars to a 68-67 come-from-behind victory over Mars Hill Friday night in the first day of the ASU Courtyard Classic in Christenberry Fieldhouse. The contest marked the season opener for both squads. ASU (1-0) trailed 65-60 with 1:25 to play before senior Shirrell Ford scored on back-to-back layups to pull the Lady Jags within one ... After a Mars Hill turnover, freshman Nicole Mealing gave ASU the lead with a layup off a feed from junior point guard Deo Ngulela. The Lions (0-1) then regained the lead on a pair of free throws from Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) with 23 seconds to play ... After Ngulela ran the clock down and misfired on a three-pointer, Paschal grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled with just a second remaining. She missed the first three-throw attempt, only to have it waved off when the officials charged Mars Hill with a lane violation. She then connected on two straight to lift ASU to the victory ... Mars Hill's Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, TN) led all scorers with 17 points, while Ariel Okonowo (Decatur, GA) had 12 and Allison Schafer booked 11 to go along with 12 rebounds ... Paschal paced the Lady Jags with 13 points and six rebounds, and freshman guard Nicole Mealing added 12 points. Ngulela and senior guard Alla Batovska each handed out six assists, with Ngulela adding three steals ... On Saturday afternoon, Mars Hill's Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) grabbed an offensive rebound and sank the game-winning basket with 1.2 seconds to play to lift the Lions to a 71-70 victory over USC Aiken. The win was the first head coaching victory for Mars Hill's Jennifer Nance ... Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, TN) paced Mars Hill (1-1) with 20 points, and Schafer booked a double-double with 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds ... USC Aiken junior Avonte Williams tallied 20 points for the Lady Pacers (2-1) and freshman Alicia Soules managed 10 points off the bench ... Mars Hill led 69-66 with 1:52 remaining before Mindy Allee hit a pair of free throws to pull USCA within one. Allee then found Satu Leppanen inside for a layup with 17 seconds left to give the Lady Pacers their first lead since the 11:56 mark. After trading possessions, Aiken was whistled for a foul with only three seconds to play, sending DeBusk to the line. Both attempts rattled out, only to have Schafer snag the rebound and hit the game-winner ... This week, MHC will play at Johnson C. Smith University on November 21 at 6 p.m.

NEWBERRY - The Lady Indians of Newberry College opened the 2006-2007 season in fine fashion this past week, winning three games by a combined margin of 82 points for a perfect 3-0 start. Newberry received excellent play from pre-season All SAC forward Tonique Frasier. The Walterboro, S.C. native posted a double double in each contest, averaging 20.7 points and 13 rebounds in the first week ... In Wednesday's season opener in Orangeburg, S.C. versus Claflin University, Newberry coasted to a 17-point victory behind Frasier and sophomore Carnicha Bellinger's play. Returning to the court for the first time in over a year, Bellinger churned out 13 points in the 77-60 win ... Over the weekend, Newberry hosted the first ever Newberry Classic. The Lady Indians easily handled Friday opponent Morris College with a 92-49 drubbing. After Frasier's 18 points, Neosho Community College transfer (Kansas) Tosha Goodman cashed in 14 points while freshman Ashley Hudson took advantage of her first minutes of the season with 12 points off the bench ... In Saturday's tilt with Edward Waters, Newberry forced an out-manned Lady Tiger squad to cough up 35 turnovers. Bellinger once again supported Frasier's 26-point effort with 19 points of her own as Newberry eased to a 76-54 triumph ... Two games are on the palette for the Lady Indians this week. Newberry will travel to Spartanburg, S.C. on Tuesday for a clash with Converse College at 6 p.m. and then the Lady Indians return to Eleazer Arena on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tilt with Coker College.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian opened the inaugural week of its 2006-07 season by going 2-1 … The Lady Blue Hose fell in their first game of the week to Lander, 93-75 … Amy Jones recorded a career-high 23 points in the loss … Morgan Johnson also had a career-high in the contest with 21 points … Presbyterian rebounded from its season-opening loss to Lander by tallying two straight wins at the First Annual Newberry Classic Women's Basketball Tournament … In the first game Presbyterian pulled away from Edward Waters to acquire its first win of the season … Johnson had a career night in the win, acquiring double-double and a career-best 16 boards … Johnson also had 18 points in the win … Presbyterian ended its time at the Newberry Classic with a dominating 76-45 victory over Morris College … Jones led the Lady Blue Hose in the win with 15 points, seven assists and six steals.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum women's basketball team opened the season with a pair of victories at the 2006 Ferguson Enterprises Classic, hosted by the Pioneers. Tusculum opened the year with a 79-55 win over Converse, marking the 100th career victory for Pioneer head coach Missy Tiber ... Brooke Underwood led Tusculum with 13 points and 13 assists. Her assist tally is the second most in school history, one shy of the 14 helpers she dished out last season against Newberry ... Four other players joined Underwood in double figure scoring including Chassity Martin (16), Ashli Oliver (14), Diana Neves (13) and Shantae Shank (11). Freshman Kat Spears grabbed 12 rebounds in her collegiate debut ... The following day, the Pioneers rained 13 three-pointers and shot a sizzling 68.4 percent (13-19) from beyond the arc in Tusculum's 83-63 win over USC Upstate. Underwood posted her second straight double-double with 12 points and 12 assists. Oliver and Martin added 17 points each, while Neves posted 16 points ... Tusculum will host undefeated North Greenville (3-0) on Tuesday. TC will hit the road for the first time this season when it travels to Institute, W.Va. to play in the West Virginia State Classic. TC will face host WV State and Davis and Elkins.

WINGATE - Wingate University freshman post player Stacie Rhodes achieved her first career double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds as the Bulldogs defeated Queens University of Charlotte 75-58 in the 2006 Queen City Classic in Brayboy Gymnasium on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University Saturday. Wingate improves to 2-0 overall on the season with the victory ... Rhodes achieved career-highs in points (15), rebounds (13) and blocked shots (three). Senior center Kerri Metzker had a team-high 23 points for Wingate. The 23 points established a new career-high for the Vance High graduate. Wingate sophomore point guard Anna Atkinson also recorded a new career-high with 10 assists to lead the Bulldog offense ... For the second day in a row, the Bulldogs used a strong second half to take the win. Wingate outscored Queens by a score of 42-27 in the second half. On the afternoon, the Royals committed 25 turnovers that the Bulldogs converted into 25 crucial points ... Wingate University defeated Belmont Abbey College 80-53 in the opening contest of the Queen City Classic in the Brayboy Gymnasium on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University Friday afternoon ... Bulldog senior wing Petra Nagy led the victors with 14 points. Atkinson and senior guard Tanetra Barrett chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively. Wingate outscored Belmont Abbey 49-20 in the second half after trailing 33-31 at intermission. The Bulldogs shot 69.2 percent from three-point range in the second stanza (nine-for-13) and 47 percent from the field for the game ... Metzker led the way for the Bulldogs with five points, three rebounds and three assists in the opening stanza against Belmont Abbey. Junior guard Kasey Gillis and sophomore forward Leslie Tucker chipped in seven and six points, respectively, in the first half ... Metzker matched her career-high in rebounds with nine boards against Queens. For their efforts at the Queen City Classic, Metzker and Barrett earned spots on the All-Tournament team. For the weekend, Metzker averaged 16.0 points per game, 7.0 rebounds per game and 2.5 assists per game. She hit 56.5 percent of her field goals in the two contests. Barrett contributed 20 points in two games ... Wingate will play three big road games the week of Thanksgiving. The Bulldogs will visit Claflin (Tuesday), Elizabeth City State (Friday) and Virginia State (Saturday). The contests against ECSU and VSU are important regional affairs ... A highlight for Bulldog fans each year is the Ortho Carolina Classic in Cuddy Arena Dec. 1-2. Wingate and Carson-Newman will entertain Claflin and UNC Pembroke for two days of exciting NCAA action on the Bulldog campus ... Since the SAC became an all-sports league in 1989, Jacumin's clubs have won or shared the regular season title in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Wingate won the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997.