Weekly SAC Women’s Basketball Notes - Feb. 12, 2007
Women's basketball game recaps and notes for week ending February 11, 2007
CARSON-NEWMAN - Abby DeBusk broke the Mars Hill career assist record to lift MHC past No. 22 Carson-Newman College, 79-60 in Stanford Arena Wednesday night ... C-N trimmed the Lion advantage to 12 points (46-34) with 17:13 left in regulation after Shari Buford converted an old fashioned 3-point play. MHC then went on a 14-to-7 run over the next four minutes to go ahead by 19 (60-41) at the 13:18 mark after Ariel Okunowo hit a 3-pointer ... MHC scored 19 second chance points after out rebounding the Eagles, 54-to-31. C-N converted on 38.7 percent (24-62) of their attempts. Tykira McDaniel came off the bench to lead C-N with 13 points followed by Buford with 12. The duo recorded five rebounds apiece ... Against L-R, the Bears' Amber Holt scored 29 points to hand Carson-Newman their fourth straight loss in SAC play, 71-58, at Holt Fieldhouse ... C-N shot a mere 40 percent from the field in the game, but kept the game close late in the second half ... Tashea LedBetter hit one of two free throws to pull the Lady Eagles within two at 54-52, but L-R went on a 9-0 run to build their lead to nine at 63-52 after Holt made two free throws ... The Lady Bears (15-8, 8-4 SAC) held C-N to six points the rest of the way to hand the Lady Eagles their fourth straight loss ... Stefanie Holbrook scored 14 points to lead C-N while Cassie Burks added 13. Burks led the Lady Eagles with seven rebounds while point guard Casha Foster led the team with four assists.
CATAWBA - The Catawba women got back on the winning track by taking a pair of league games last week ... The ladies earned a 73-68 overtime win at Tusculum then topped Newberry 44-41 on Saturday ... The 44 points was the fewest by Catawba since scoring 42 points in a loss at Carson-Newman in 2005 ... It marked the fewest points scored in a win since Catawba defeated Duke 29-21 in 1976 ... Tamekia Foster posted a double-double in the win over Tusculum with 13 points and 11 rebounds ... Ingrid Easter led the ladies in scoring with 17 points, while Gia Colombo added 10 points ... NeKeithia Howard pulled down 11 rebounds as Catawba held a 57-35 edge on the boards ... The ladies shot just 39 percent and committed 26 turnovers in the win ... Catawba shot just 27 percent in the win over Newberry ... Corin Muldrow was the only player to reach double figures with 10 points ... Catawba trailed most of the contest, but battled back to take a 32-31 lead on a pair of free throws by Andrell Baxter with 6:47 to play ... Catawba made just 10 field goals, but hit on 23-of-34 at the line ... Muldrow hit two key free throws with three seconds left for the winning margin ... Howard leads Catawba in scoring at 9.9 points a game ... She adds 5.1 rebounds ... Foster adds eight points and a team-leading 5.6 rebounds a contest ... Easter has been one of the hottest scoring Lady Indians, averaging over double figures in league games ... Catawba will play three games this week with two road games ... The ladies travel to Mars Hill on Monday and Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday ... Catawba will host Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne women's basketball team (15-8, 8-4) made it a season-high five wins in a row after defeating Newberry (79-63) and Catawba (71-58) on the road Wednesday and Saturday, respectively … Lenoir-Rhyne has also won five consecutive contests against league foes on the road and move into second place in the South Atlantic Conference ... The Bears are 8-1 in their last nine games as well … Sophomore center Denise Moore (Newport News, Va.) led the way for Lenoir-Rhyne, finishing with 25 points and 18 rebounds (both season-highs), as the Bears pulled away late in the second half when it led by as many as 18 points … Freshman guards Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) and Jami Safrit (Hickory, N.C.) added 15 and 11 points, respectively, for the Bears … In addition, Lenoir-Rhyne snapped Newberry's six-game winning streak and knocked the Indians out of first place … Lenoir-Rhyne then defeated Carson-Newman behind Holt's game-high 29 points (one shy of her career high) … Moore added 17 points and 14 rebounds, her fourth-straight double-double … L-R had lost to both Newberry and Carson-Newman earlier in the year at home … Holt has averaged 23.8 points and five assists in her past five games … Freshman guard Meredith Webster (High Point, N.C.) has hit 11 straight three-pointers dating back five games … Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Lincoln Memorial (Monday at 6 p.m.) and Catawba (Saturday at 6 p.m.) this week … L-R defeated LMU, 61-53, earlier this year in overtime but fell to Catawba, 51-41, in Salisbury, N.C., in early January … This will only be the second meeting with the Railsplitters while the Bears lead the all-time series with the Indians, 29-28 … Lenoir-Rhyne's contest with Catawba will be webcasted thanks to CSTV and the NCAA.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - Despite a late run by Presbyterian College, the Lincoln Memorial University Lady Railsplitters managed to hang on for their third South Atlantic Conference win of the year Wednesday evening by defeating the Lady Blue Hose 53-50 to move to 11-11 overall and 3-8 in league play. The win marked the second time this season the Lady Railsplitters have defeated Presbyterian, leaving the LMU women undefeated in the only South Atlantic Conference games they will ever play against the Lady Blue Hose ... Presbyterian will be moving to NCAA Division I next season and leaving the South Atlantic Conference ... Although the lead changed hands only three times, the game was close throughout the entire forty minutes of the contest. Following a jumper by Presbyterian's Bridget Takach that gave the Lady Blue Hose the lead with 12:27 to play, LMU regained the lead on a basket by senior Betsy Bowser only seconds later and carried the lead into the final buzzer for the 53-50 win ... The Lady Splitters received 12 points in the second half from freshman Andi Winney which took top scoring honors for the LMU. Winney also led the Lady on the glass with 8 rebounds on the night ... Cold shooting from the field and the free throw line were bad enough, but add 17 turnovers to the mix and you have the recipe for a 81-67 loss to Mars Hill on Saturday ... For the game the Lady Railsplitters shot 42 percent from the field, 21 percent from behind the arc and 60 percent from the charity stripe. They were also out-rebounded by a 38-32 margin ... LMU was led in scoring by senior Madeline Richards with 18 points. Betsy Bowser added in 15 points including all three of LMU's three-pointers in the game. Andi Winney had 13 points and Heather Benton added in 10.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 2-0 last week. The Lions are now 14-9 overall and 7-5 in the SAC ... In the first game of the week, Abby DeBusk broke the Mars Hill career assist record as well as joining two other Lions who recorded double-doubles in scoring and rebounding to lift MHC past No. 22 Carson-Newman College, 79-60 in Stanford Arena Wednesday night ... DeBusk broke Lee An Enix' record of 442 career assists tonight after dishing out six assists in the win. An interesting note about the record is that both DeBusk and Enix hail from the same hometown, New Tazewell, TN. Enix attended MHC from 1983-87 ... Following DeBusk's 14 point, 11 rebound effort was Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) with a game high 20 points and 10 boards. Shannon Lee (Four Oaks, NC) recorded her career highs in scoring (18) and rebounding (13) in the contest ... Debusk hit one of two foul shots with 17:25 on the clock in the first frame and the Lions never trailed again ... MHC's biggest lead of the first half came with just 10 seconds left in the period after Lee hit a layup to enable the Lions to go into the locker room up 17 points (38-21) at the intermission ... C-N trimmed the Lions' advantage to 12 points (46-34) with 17:13 left in regulation after Shari Buford (Hampton, GA) converted an old fashioned 3-point play. MHC then went on a 14-to-7 run over the next four minutes to go ahead by 19 (60-41) at the 13:18 mark after Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, GA) hit a 3-pointer. MHC would lead by as many as 23 points (74-51) when Jessica Blanford (Concord, NC) nailed a pair of free throws with 4:10 left in the game ... MHC scored 19 second chance points after out rebounding the Eagles, 54-to-31. The Lions hit 44.1 percent (30-68) of their field goal as opposed to C-N converting on 38.7 percent (24-62) of their attempts ... Tykira McDaniel (Griffin, GA) came off the bench to lead C-N with 13 points followed by Buford with 12. The duo recorded five rebounds apiece ... In the second game of the week, Mars Hill defeated Lincoln Memorial University 81-67 on the road Saturday night, 81-67 in SAC women's basketball action. All five of the Lions' starters recorded double-figures in scoring in the win ... Jessica Blanford (Concord, NC) hit a layup with 9:49 left in the first half to give MHC a 13-11 lead and the Lions would never trail again. The Lions went on a 22-to-12 run to close out the first period and go into the locker room up 35-23 at the intermission ... The second frame belonged to the Lions. MHC extended their advantage to as many as 24 points (67-43) with 7:29 left in regulation after Danielle Francis (Bamberg, SC) hit a shot in the lane. LMU cut the deficit to 11 points with 3:12 left in the contest but that was as close as they could get ... Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, GA) led all scorers with 20 points followed by Blanford and Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) who scored 14 points apiece. Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, TN) added 11 while Lindsay Roberts (Murphy, NC) pitched in 10. Blanford recorded a double-double tallying 10 rebounds ... The Lions converted on 52.6 percent (30-57) of their field goals and won the rebound battle, 38-to-32 ... Madeline Richards led LMU with 18 points and five assists. Betsy Bowser added 15 points and six rebounds ... MHC will host Catawba College on Monday night at 6 p.m. MHC will then host Wingate University on Wednesday night, also at 6 p.m.
NEWBERRY - In a game that featured 53 total fouls and 63 attempted free throws, Lenoir-Rhyne College beat Newberry College, 79-63, in front of an attendance of 300 in Eleazer Arena Wednesday night ... It was the Lady Indian's first loss in seven games and only the third of the 2006-07 campaign ... Down just four points at halftime, 32-28, the Bears exploded offensively in the second half with 47 points on 15-of-20 field goal shooting for a percentage of 57.8 ... Lenoir-Rhyne (14-8, 6-4 SAC) cashed in on 16-of-18 free throws in the final 20 minutes ... Newberry (19-3, 8-3 SAC) hung tight with the Bears in the early moments of the second, taking a one point lead at the 15:29 mark after junior Ashlee Wright netted a jump shot ... Lenoir-Rhyne bounced back in front on it's ensuing possession when Jacquelyn Kremer nailed a jumper of her own, going up 35-34 ... The Lady Indians again took the lead at 14:24 of the second on another Ashlee Wright deuce, but the Bears quickly answered again, snatching the lead back on a turn around bucket in the lane from Denise Moore ... Moore finished an impressive night with 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting and also pulled down 18 rebounds ... With Newberry trailing by a point, 37-36, with just over 14 minutes left to go, Lenoir-Rhyne would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way ... The Lady Indians had three players register double-digits in points, led by junior forward Tonique Frasier's 12. The Walterboro native also grabbed seven rebounds in 27 minutes of play ... Wright finished the evening with 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field and junior Monica Alexander had 10 points and two steals in 24 minutes ... Ashley Marine came off the bench to hit 3-of-5 three pointers for nine points ... For Lenoir-Rhyne Moore's 25 points was tops on the Bears, but guards Amber Holt and Jami Safrit tallied 15 and 11 points respectively ... The Lady Indians of Newberry College fell for the second straight game during South Atlantic Conference action, losing 44-41 in a defensive battle with Catawba College ... Catawba Indian sophomore Corin Muldrow rattled in two clutch free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining in the game to ice the win for Catawba (17-6, 7-4 SAC) in Goodman Gymnasium ... Newberry (19-4, 8-4 SAC) pulled to within one point, 42-41, after sophomore guard Cicely Jenkins found the bottom of the net on a three-pointer from the nearside corner ... After Muldrow's free throws, junior Ashlee Wright inbounded a long pass to fellow junior Tonique Frasier. Frasier then found Ashley Marine, but the Peachtree City, Ga. native was hounded by the Catawba defense and tossed up a difficult shot that did not tie the game ... In a game that only totaled 85 points combined between both teams, stellar defense was on display for each side. Newberry held the Catawba Indians to 27 percent, hitting just 10-of-37 from the field ... However, Catawba got the best of the scarlet and gray at the free throw line, cashing in on 23-of-34 opportunities ... Several Lady Indians were in foul trouble throughout the night with junior Tosha Goodman fouling out at the 2:57 mark of the second half. Frasier and Wright had four fouls each and Newberry was called for 25 fouls. Catawba was whistled for 18 ... Newberry held a three point edge after a first half that featured only 41 points scored from both teams combined ... After an off-balanced Ashley Marine three from the top of the key at the 11:34 mark to give Newberry a 13-9 lead, over five minutes would transpire before either team registered a point ... Finally, the Lady Indians broke through at 6:27 on a lay-up by Tonique Frasier for a 15-9 lead, the largest of the first half for either team ... Catawba would go on a 9-5 run over the final six and a half minutes to close the lead to three at the break ... Muldrow led all scorers with 10 points. Two other Catawba Indians, senior Tamekia Foster and junior Hillary Hampton, scored eight points a piece... For the Lady Indians, Tonique Frasier and Ashley Marine each totaled eight points. Frasier grabbed 12 rebounds while Marine snagged a career-high five.
PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian fell in its only game last week … The Lady Blue Hose fell 53-50 to Lincoln Memorial for the second time this season … Presbyterian was led once again in the loss by sophomore sensation Morgan Johnson (Marietta, Ga.) … Johnson picked up a game-high 14 points … She was one of three PC players in double figures … Jessica Parris (Inman, S.C.) nailed three 3-pointers en route to an 11-point performance, while Sharie Hopkins (Chesapeake, Va.) recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds … PC has three home games this week to try and pick up their first league contest of the season.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum women's basketball team (12-11, 4-8 SAC) dropped a pair of contests last week ... Tusculum rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to take Catawba into overtime, before losing 73-68. TC wrapped up the week with a 93-71 setback at Wingate ... Sophomore Ashli Oliver has taken over the all-time lead at Tusculum with 153 career three-pointers, in only 51 games. Oliver has buried at least four 3-pointers in her last five outings. Her 153 treys are also seventh all-time in SAC history ... Senior Chassity Martin is second with 146 three-pointers (T10th in SAC history). Martin is also closing in on the 1,000-point plateau and enters this week's action with 958 career points ... TC will play three games this week, beginning with Monday's home match-up with No. 22 Carson-Newman. Tusculum will then travel to Newberry and Presbyterian.
WINGATE - On a day when Wingate University honored head women's basketball coach Johnny Jacumin, his Bulldogs picked up a 93-71 South Atlantic Conference victory over Tusculum College Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena ... With the win, Wingate improves to 17-5 overall and 9-2 in the SAC. The Bulldogs visit Presbyterian College Monday night at 6 p.m. Wingate will hit the road again Wednesday for a 6 p.m. contest at Mars Hill College. The Bulldogs will host Newberry College Saturday (Feb. 17) at 2 p.m. ... On Saturday against Tusculum, Bulldog senior forward Emily Paffrath led five scorers in double figures with 16 points. Senior guard Tanetra Barrett barely missed a double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists ... Bulldog sophomore guard Anna Atkinson added 14 points, while junior guard Kate Edwards had 12 markers and senior forward Kerri Metzker chipped in 11 points for Wingate. Atkinson hit six-of-six field goals in the victory. The TC contest was Wingate's only action last week ... The Bulldogs, who made six-of-10 three-pointers, raced to a 43-28 halftime lead and were never threatened. Behind 11 rebounds from Barrett and eight boards from Metzker, Wingate outrebounded Tusculum 50-29 ... The Pioneers hung with the Bulldogs in the opening six minutes, but a 25-9 run, capped by a lay-up by freshman center Stacie Rhodes (Raleigh, N.C.), put Wingate up 35-19 with 4:45 left in the first half ... Atkinson was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III women's basketball first team (college division), selected by CoSIDA, last week. The 2006 SAC Freshman of the Year, Atkinson is second in the South Atlantic Conference in assists (5.5 per game) and steals (2.5 per game). The McDowell High School product is 19th in the NCAA Division II in assists per game. She leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6). Atkinson contributes 7.0 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game ... Wingate is fourth in the latest NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional poll (released Feb. 7). Newberry (third), Carson-Newman (seventh) and Catawba (10th) also represent the SAC in the regional listing. In addition to Atkinson's lofty ranking in assists, Paffrath charts in the number 15 position in the NCAA blocked shots per game category (2.4 blocked shots per game) ... Paffrath leads the South Atlantic Conference in blocked shots per game. She is averaging 11.0 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game on the season. Barrett leads the team with 17.9 points per game. Metzker contributes 11.5 points per game and a team-best 6.5 rebounds per contest ... The Wingate University Board of Trustees designated February 10 as Johnny Jacumin Day at Wingate University. In post-game ceremonies, the Bulldog family honored Johnny and Cookie Jacumin for full lives of mentoring, teaching and coaching young people. In 27 Wingate seasons, Jacumin has compiled an overall record of 585-216. Jacumin is retiring at the end of the 2006-07 campaign ... At a Saturday night roast honoring the Jacumins, Wingate University vice-president and director of athletics Steve Poston announced that the University would name its new athletic heritage room the "Johnny and Cookie Jacumin Athletic Heritage Room." Located in the Cannon Athletic Complex, the Athletic Heritage Room would house important Wingate athletic memorabilia ... Coach Jacumin is fourth on the NCAA Division II winningest active coaches victory 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.