Weekly SAC Women’s Basketball Notes - Jan. 15, 2007

Women's basketball game recaps and notes for week ending January 14, 2007

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles routed the Mars Hill Lady Lions, 86-63 in South Atlantic Conference action at Holt Fieldhouse ... C-N shot 41 percent for the game and drained seven three-pointers ... Stefanie Holbrook led all scorers with three treys and scored 15 points to lead the Lady Eagle. Casha Foster added 11 points and Ashley Tipton scored 10 to join Holbrook in double figures. Shari Buford and Lindsey Eggleston grabbed 10 rebounds apiece to lead the C-N defensive effort ... The Lady Lions (8-5, 2-1 SAC) got to within four points after a Jessica Blanford layup early in the game, but the Lady Eagles went on a 14-6 run to put the game out of reach and lead 26-14 midway through the first half ... C-N led 48-27 at halftime. In the second half, the Lady Eagles built their lead to as high as 32 points after an Angela Volentine jumper to give C-N an 85-53 advantage. Volentine finished with eight points along with Cassie Burks and Tashea LedBetter. Tipton finished with seven assists while Casha Foster had three steals ... Against Wingate, Tykira McDaniel (Griffin, Ga.) knocked down a runner in the lane with 2.6 seconds remaining in the game to give the Eagles a 56-54 victory over the host No. 19 Wingate University women's basketball team. Wingate falls to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the SAC. Carson-Newman improves to 13-2 overall and 3-1 SAC ... With 6.0 seconds remaining in the second half, Carson-Newman freshman guard Casha Foster (Crossville, Tenn.) in-bounded the ball to McDaniel on the left wing. McDaniel dribbled into the lane and nailed a running jump shot with 2.6 seconds remaining to give the Eagles a 56-54 advantage. Sophomore guard Ashley Tipton (Knoxville, Tenn.) led the Eagles offense with 15 points and notched eight rebounds. Tipton was four-for-nine from the field, including three-for-five from beyond the three-point arc ... Teammate and freshman forward Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) had 16 total rebounds for the Eagles. McDaniel added 11 points on 63 percent shooting from the floor ... The score was tied on ten different occasions in the game and eight times in the second half. Carson-Newman had the largest lead after the break at 37-31 with 13:56 on the clock. After a layup from Byer, Wingate took a 53-50 advantage with 3:11 to go in the game ... There was not another point scored until the 1:12 mark when a layup from McDaniel made it a 53-52 game in favor of the host Bulldogs. A Barrett free throw gave Wingate a 54-52 advantage with 0:56 to play ... Carson-Newman junior guard Stefanie Holbrook (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) knocked down a jumper to tie the score with 33 seconds on the clock. C-N took the lead for good on the dramatic shot by McDaniel with 2.6 seconds remaining.

CATAWBA - The Catawba women picked up two wins in three tries last week, falling on Monday at No. 20-ranked Wingate 75-69 then taking wins over Tusculum and Presbyterian ... The ladies tried to rally from a double-digit deficit at Wingate, but after falling down by 16 with 11 minutes to go could only get within three in the closing minutes ... Ne'Keithia Howard scored 19 points, while Tamekia Foster had 15 points and nine rebounds ... The Lady Indians used a sizzling second half to run away from Tusculum in the 81-56 victory ... Catawba trailed 30-20 late in the first half, but rallied back and trailed 32-30 at the break ... The ladies shot 65.5 percent in the final half to outscore the Pioneers 51-24 ... Catawba dominated the boards 41-22 and shot 55 percent for the game ... Ingrid Easter scored a career-high 21 points, 19 in the second half, hitting on all seven field goal tries and went 5-of-5 at the line ... Howard added 19 points and seven rebounds, while Foster chipped in with a dozen points ... Catawba used a 10-0 run midway through the second half to erase a four-point deficit and lead Catawba to the 61-53 win at PC ... It marked only the fourth win in 18 tries for Catawba at PC, but the third in the last four years ... Brittany Higgins led the way with 13 points, while Easter added 12 points, three assists and two steals ... PC held a 38-25 edge on the boards, but Catawba helped force 21 turnovers, including 13 in the second half ... Howard missed the PC game with an injury and leads the team in scoring at 10.9 a game ... she is averaging five rebounds ... Higgins, Foster and Hillary Hampton each averaged over eight points a contest ... Catawba has held four of its last five opponents under 60 points ... Catawba will play host to Mars Hill on Wednesday and will travel to Lincoln Memorial on Saturday for the first-ever meeting between the schools in women's basketball.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College women's basketball team (8-7, 2-3) won two of three games this week against South Atlantic Conference foes … The Bears started off the week by defeating the Lady Blue Hose at home, 58-52, Monday night … Freshman guard Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) led L-R with 16 points and sophomore center Denise Moore (Newport News, Va.) added 14 points and nine rebounds and the Bears forced 21 turnovers … Newberry escaped with a 60-57 win over Lenoir-Rhyne Wednesday at Shuford Gymnasium for its their straight victory in the series … The Indians battled back from a 48-40 second-half deficit to take the win … The Bears missed 10 straight shots in an eight-and-a-half minute span in which they where held without a field goal … Holt was the lone player to score in double figures for L-R, finishing with 15 points ... In its 90-74 win over Mars Hill Saturday, Lenoir-Rhyne picked up its first win on the road against a SAC foe in two years (a nine-game losing streak) … Moore (21 points and nine rebounds) and Holt (16 points and seven assists) paced the Bears while freshman guard Jami Safrit (Hickory, N.C.) added 17 points as Lenoir-Rhyne moved back over .500 for the season … Lenoir-Rhyne next travels to Harrogate, Tenn., to take on Lincoln Memorial Wednesday at 6 p.m. … This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools … Lenoir-Rhyne then steps out of league play to take on Chowan Saturday at 6 p.m. … L-R won by an 81-70 score on Monday, December 18, in Murfreesboro, N.C. … The series is tied at one.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team fell to 7-6 on the year and 0-3 in the South Atlantic Conference with Monday night's 70-59 loss to Tusculum College at home in the Tex Turner Arena ... Lady Railsplitters Heather Benton and Andi Winney combined for 22 points, but the Pioneer defense allowed the Lincoln Memorial guards only two three-pointers the entire game. In fact, the LMU women were held to 16.7 percent behind the arc which turned out to be a big contributing factor in the loss ... Leading all scorers was Tusculum's Diana Neves. Neves scored 20 points to help the Pioneers move to 3-0 in South Atlantic Conference play and 11-3 overall. TC's Shantae Shank and Brooke Underwood also scored double figures. Shank finished the night with 13 points while Underwood contributed another 10 ... Although the Lady Blue Hose made numerous runs in the second half, the Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team weathered the storms and emerged 74-68 winners over Presbyterian College Wednesday night to earn their first conference win of the season ... The Lady Railsplitters led by 11 points with eighteen minutes to go in the game only to see the Lady Blue Hose whittle away at the deficit and take the lead midway through the second half ... Eventually, LMU extended the lead again to nine points and survived several more Presbyterian runs before coming away with the six point win to improve to 1-3 in league play and 8-6 overall ... Five Lady Railsplitter players scored double figures in LMU's first conference win of the season. Senior Wiseman Alcema had possibly her best game since joining the team a year ago. Alcema led Lincoln Memorial University in scoring with 14 points on four of seven shooting from the field, while teammate Betsy Bowser finished closely behind with 13 points. LMU's Madeline Richards added 12 points in Wednesday's win, while freshman Andi Winney had 11 and junior Sidney Johnson contributed another 10 ... The Lady Railsplitter basketball team fell to 1-4 in South Atlantic Conference play and 8-7 overall with Saturday night's 53-47 loss to Newberry College in Newberry, South Carolina. Lincoln Memorial and Newberry battled toe-to-toe in Saturday's fifth league game of the year with the score changing hands on six occasions ... Newberry took a four point lead into the intermission, leading 30-26 at the half. Lincoln Memorial refused to go down without a fight but couldn't get over the hump in the second half to take the lead ... The Lady Splitters trailed the entire final twenty minutes of play. Still, in spite of their deficit, the Lady Railsplitters took the game down to the wire with Newberry before falling by the final margin of 53-47 ... Newberry's Ashley Marine came off the bench to lead all scorers with 17 points, while Lincoln Memorial freshman Andi Winney took top honors for the Lady Railsplitters with 14 points and teammate Madeline Richards added another 11. LMU's Latoya Johnson led all rebounders with nine boards ... This week the Lady Railsplitters will be back at home in the Tex Turner Arena for two consecutive South Atlantic Conference games. On Wednesday night the LMU women play host to host Lenoir-Rhyne College (8-7, 2-3) at 6:00 p.m., while Saturday night's match-up will feature Lincoln Memorial taking on Catawba College (13-3, 3-1).

MARS HILL - MHC went 1-2 on the week. The Lions are now 8-6 overall and 2-2 in league action ... In the first game of the week, three Mars Hill players scored double-digit points while the Lions shot 58 percent from the field to get the 74-62 victory over Newberry on Monday evening in Stanford Arena. The Lions jumped out to a 16-7 lead at the 13:13 mark of the first half when Lindsay Roberts (Murphy, NC) converted on a layup ... The Lady Indians would cut the Mars Hill lead to five points at 24-19 when Ashley Marine (Peachtree City, GA) drained a three-point basket with 6:58 remaining in the first half ... From there, however, Mars Hill would go on a 17-9 run over the final six minutes to take a 41-28 lead into the locker room at halftime ... In the second half, Mars Hill continued their hot shooting from the field and moved out to a 17-point lead when Alison Schafer's (Advance, NC) layup with 6:39 to play gave the Lions a 62-45 lead ... Roberts led Mars Hill in scoring with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Abby Debusk (New Tazewell, TN) finished with 19 points while Schafer contributed a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds on the evening ... Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, SC) registered a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds while also recording four steals. Monica Alexander (Norcross, GA) scored 12 points. Marine came off the bench and scored 14 points ... In game two, Mars Hill's women's basketball team lost their first SAC contest at Carson-Newman College Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse, 86-63. MHC jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first minute of play after Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) and Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, TN) scored on the Lions' first two possessions ... The Eagles then out scored MHC 20-to-7 over the next seven minutes to lead by nine points (20-11) with 12:07 left in the first half after Lindsey Eggleston (Buena Vista, CO) scored in the lane ... C-N then went on a 28-to-16 run to end the first frame and take a 48-27 lead into the locker room at the intermission ... MHC settled down in the second half but the damage was already done. The Eagles only out scored the Lions by two points in the second stanza (38-36) but the first half lead the Eagles obtained was too much to overcome ... C-N won the rebound battle, 56-to-38. The Eagles scored 22 points off Lion miscues and received 36 points from their bench. The Eagles also scored 25 points in the game from the foul line ... DeBusk led MHC with 15 points and five rebounds. Lindsay Roberts (Murphy, NC) followed with nine points while Shamia Terry (Greenville, SC) came off the bench to add seven points and three boards ... Stefanie Holbrook (Oak Ridge, TN) led C-N with 15 points while Casha Foster (Crossville, TN) added 11. Ashley Tipton (Knoxville, TN) rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Eagles with 10 points ... In the final contest, Denise Moore (Newport News, VA) scored 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Lenoir-Rhyne women's basketball team over Mars Hill College in Stanford Arena, 90-74 ... The Lions jumped out to a 9-2 lead to start the game with 15:55 left in the first half after Jessica Blanford, (Concord, NC) hit a layup. L-R then went on a 18-to-9 run to take a two-point (20-18) advantage with 9:06 left in the first frame after Amber Holt (Charlotte, NC) knocked down a 15-foot jumper ... The Bears would never trail again. L-R took a 43-40 lead into the locker room at the intermission ... L-R started the second stanza on a 17-to-6 run to lead by 14 (60-46) with 15:31 left in the contest after Ashlei Helton (Icard, NC) hit a shot from behind the arc. MHC closed the gap to eight points (76-68) with 4:46 left in regulation after Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, TN) hit a foul shot but that was as close as the Lions would get ... Hot shooting help lead the Bears to victory. L-R hit 53.4 percent (31-58) from the floor, 54.5 percent (6-11) from behind the arc and 75.9 percent (22-29) from the charity stripe in the contest. MHC converted on only 41.4 percent (29-70) of their field goals. MHC was just 1-for-11 (9.1 percent) from 3-point range ... The Lions did win the rebound battle, 40-to-33. Each team scored 46 points in the paint while the Bears added 26 points off Lion miscues. The Lions scored 20 second chance points ... Following Moore was Jami Safrit (Hickory, NC) with 17 points and seven boards while Holt added 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Safrit played 38 minutes in the contest while Holt played 36. DeBusk led MHC with 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds followed by Blanford with 15 points and eight rebounds. Lindsay Roberts (Murphy, NC) rounded out the double-figure scorers for MHC with 10 points ... Foul trouble kept Roberts on the bench most of the game ... MHC will play at Catawba College on January 17 at 6 p.m. and then play at Wingate on January on 20 at 2 p.m.

NEWBERRY - Newberry College went 2-1 this week with victories over Lenoir-Rhyne and a home victory on Saturday against Lincoln Memorial ... Ashley Marine was the hero on Wednesday, sinking two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to lead the Indians past the Bears 60-57 ... In Saturday's game against new league member LMU, Marine stayed hot from the three-point line, draining five-of-six treys off the bench for a career-best 17 points. The Lady Indians once again tightened up their defense effort in the second half, holding Lincoln Memorial to just 26.1 percent shooting in the second (6-of-23), and 37 percent overall (17-of-46) ... Junior forward Tonique Frasier continues to lead the team in scoring (17.2 ppg) as well as in rebounds (9.0). Frasier also has a team-high 48 steals ... Monica Alexander is dishing out a team-best 5.0 assists per-game while chipping in 11.1 ppg ... The Lady Indians are off until Saturday when they travel to Greeneville, TN to face Tusculum at 2 pm.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian fell to 0-5 in conference play last week, losing all three games that they took part in on the week … The Lady Blue Hose overall are in the midst of a season-high six-game losing streak … Sharie Hopkins had a strong week for PC in her first three games back with the squad, averaging a team-best 12.0 points-per-game in the three contests … Hopkins scored a season-high 18 points in Presbyterian's home loss to LMU … The Chesepeake, Va. native was almost perfect from the field, going 9-for-10 … The Lady Blue Hose play nationally-ranked Wingate and Carson-Newman this week in their search for their first league victory.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum College women's basketball team posted a 1-1 record last week to improve its record to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in South Atlantic Conference play… The Pioneers are in a four-way tie for first place with nationally ranked teams Wingate (No. 19) and Carson-Newman (No. 25), as well as Catawba… Tusculum opened the week with a 70-59 road win at Lincoln Memorial for its third consecutive win over the Lady Railsplitters… TC couldn't fend off a hot-shooting Catawba squad in an 81-56 road loss in Salisbury, N.C… Freshman Diana Neves recorded 20 points off the bench while sophomore Shantae Shank and senior Brooke Underwood added 13 and 10 points, respectively as Underwood hauled in a game-high six rebounds in the victory… Neves scored 11 of her 13 first half points during an 18-6 run by the Pioneers as TC took its biggest lead at 29-18 with less than four minutes left in the half. LMU finished the period with six unanswered points to trim the deficit to 29-24… Lincoln Memorial cut the lead to 31-30 early in the second half, but TC responded with a 16-7 run capped off by a three-pointer by Shank to move the Pioneers ahead 47-37 with under 10 minutes left in regulation… Lindsey Barta finished with seven points, including her three-point play with 6:40 remaining… Tusculum shot 41 percent from beyond the arc, including three treys each by Shank and Neves… TC also fared well at the charity stripe shooting 89.5 percent (17-19), including 6-of-6 by Underwood… In the Catawba game, Shank led the Pioneers with a career-high 19 points, while Chassity Martin added 14 points, all coming in the first half… Trailing by four points early in the second half, Catawba ran off a 17-2 run and followed with a 25-9 spurt as the Catawba Lady Indians outscored Tusculum by a 51-24 margin in the final 20 minutes…Catawba shot 55.4 percent from the field, including 19-of-29 in the second half (65.5 percent)… In the first half, Tusculum used a 13-3 run to take a 30-20 advantage at the 4:43 mark following lay-up by Martin. But Catawba would score 10 straight points, including a lay-up by Easter with eight seconds left. Tusculum would regain the lead on Martin's lay-up with time expiring giving the Pioneers a 32-30 at intermission… Four Pioneers are scoring in double figures for the Pioneers this season including Neves (12.5 ppg), Ashli Oliver (11.1 ppg), Martin (10.8 ppg) and Shank (10.1 ppg)… Tusculum is off to its best SAC start (3-1) in school history… Tusculum will travel to Carson-Newman on Wednesday before hosting Newberry this Saturday... The contest against Newberry will be a rematch of last year's Food Lion SAC Tournament final.

WINGATE - The number 19 Wingate University women's basketball team split two South Atlantic Conference games last week. On Monday night, Wingate thwarted a late Catawba rally as the host Bulldogs picked up a 75-69 victory in Cuddy Arena. Wingate handed Catawba its first league loss ... Wingate built its 13-point halftime edge to 16 with 11 minutes remaining, but Catawba rallied back to within three in the fading minutes. A 9-3 run midway through the second half, which was capped on a three-pointer by Kate Edwards gave Wingate a 62-46 lead. The Bulldogs still held a nine point lead at 70-61 with over three minutes left when Catawba began to trim the deficit ... Tanetra Barrett tallied a game-high 23 points to lead the Bulldogs against Catawba. She hit on eight-of-13 from the field and made seven-of-10 shots at the line. Emily Paffrath added 14 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots ... Carson-Newman sophomore guard Tykira McDaniel knocked down a runner in the lane with 2.6 seconds remaining in the game to give the No. 25 Eagles a 56-54 victory over host No. 19 Wingate Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena. Wingate is 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the SAC ... Barrett led all scorers with 18 points. Bulldog sophomore point guard Anna Atkinson had a game-high seven assists and six steals, while senior forward Kerri Metzker pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Wingate senior forward Lakin Byer made a solid contribution off the bench with 11 points and seven rebounds ... The score was tied on ten different occasions in the game and eight times in the second half. Carson-Newman had the largest lead after the break at 37-31 with 13:56 on the clock ... After a layup from Byer, Wingate took a 53-50 advantage with 3:11 to go in the game. There was not another point scored until the 1:12 mark when a layup from McDaniel made it a 53-52 game in favor of the host Bulldogs ... A Barrett free throw gave Wingate a 54-52 advantage with 56 seconds to play. Carson-Newman junior guard Stefanie Holbrook knocked down a jumper to tie the score with 33 seconds on the clock. C-N took the lead for good on the dramatic shot by McDaniel with 2.6 seconds remaining ... Barrett averaged 20.5 points per game as the No. 19 Bulldogs split two league games last week. For the week, she converted 58.3 percent of her field goal tries (14-of-24). On the season, Barrett leads the Bulldogs with 17.7 points per game. In addition, she averages 6.1 rebounds per game and 3.1 assists per game ... Atkinson is eighth in the NCAA Division II in assists per game. Paffrath is 13th in blocked shots per game. Paffrath broke the South Atlantic Conference all-time blocked shots record earlier this season. As a team, the Bulldogs rank 15th in blocked shots per game ... Wingate's 11 wins this season gives head coach Johnny Jacumin 579 victories for his illustrious Bulldog career. Coach Jacumin is fourth on the NCAA Division II winningest active coaches win list. His .729 winning percentage (entering the season) ranks 15th among active NCAA Division II coaches ... 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.