Women’s Weekly Basketball Notes, January 14, 2008
Women's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending January 13, 2008.
BREVARD - The Tornados went 0-2 for the week, losing two close match-ups ... On Wednesday night, the Tornados took on Lenoir-Rhyne, falling to the Bears' in a low scoring affair, 59-47 ... Senior Holly Krogman yet again led the Tornados with a 14 point performance, while sophomore guard Lindsay Thrift poured in 10 points in her first start of the season ... Freshman Kelsey Sill pulled down eight rebounds for the contest, seeing 20 minutes of play off the BC bench ... On Saturday, the Tornados traveled to Harrogate, T.N. to face off with Lincoln Memorial University ... The Tornados battled back from 18 points down in the second half to take a three-point lead into the closing seconds of the contest ... However , LMU would hit three free throws with only .1 seconds remaining in regulation to knot the score up at 68-68 ... LMU would carry their momentum over into the extra period and outscore BC 11-4 to pick up the 79-72 win ... Leading the way for the Tornados was freshman forward Amanda Whitaker, who had a career-high 18 points ... Sophomore Samantha Winn recorded 13 points for the contest, while seniors Courtney Brandon and Holly Krogman had 10 points each ... Brevard College (5-7) will look to bounce back from the tough overtime loss this Wednesday, January 16, when they will continue their current three-game road trip by traveling to Salisbury, N.C. to play Catawba ... That game is slated for a 6 p.m. tip-off ... Then the Tornados will wrap up their three-game road trip on Saturday, January 19, when they will travel to Wingate to face-off with the Wingate Bulldogs in SAC action.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles used their bye week in SAC play to rest, before picking up a road win at Mars Hill on Saturday, 84-79…With the win, C-N returns to .500 at 7-7 overall…The Lady Eagles are 2-1 in SAC play, but more importantly, 2-0 on the road…Carson-Newman used a 43-36 second half to win a tight, high-scoring game on the road…C-N junior Angela Volentine pumped in a career-high 24 points…The North Platte, Nebraska-native hit 8-of-17 shots from the floor, including 4-of-8 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 at the line to amass the her best effort as a Lady Eagle…Volentine's outing becomes even more impressive considering it came after a 7-for-8 night against Newberry when she led the Lady Eagles with 15… She also had four rebounds in the win at Mars Hill, and is averaging 15 ppg in three SAC games so far…The Lady Eagles continue to be one of the nation's best rebounding teams, currently 4th in rebounding margin at +12 per game…C-N continues to be a top ten team in three-point field goal percentage as well…The lady Eagles are knocking down threes at a 41 percent clip on the season…Ashley Tipton continues to be one of the nation's best long-range shooters…The Knoxville-native is 40-of-74 (.541) from three-point range…As of last week's NCAA stats, Tipton led the nation in 3-point percentage…Ashley Kyle is averaging 5.9 assists per game, good for 12th-nationally…Sophomore Shari Buford is putting up 11.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, averaging just shy of a double-double despite playing only 25 minutes per game…The Lady Eagles have the key week to their season coming up…C-N hosts Wingate on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at Mossy Creek, before travelling to Greeneville to host Tusculum on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip.
CATAWBA - The Catawba women are still looking for their first win after the Christmas break, falling to Wingate (76-69) and Tusculum (85-70) last week ... The Lady Indians have lost five straight games, their longest streak since losing seven straight during the 2005-06 season ... Catawba led Wingate by as many as eight points in the second half, but failed to score over the final three minutes as the Bulldogs rallied ... Sicilia LoSauro led Catawba with 15 points, while NeKeithia Howard added 10 as did Sara Crane which was her career-best outing ... The Lady Indians played well in the opening half at Tusculum, hitting on half of its 30 shots, but fell of to 35 percent in the second half ... Howard posted 17 points, while LoSauro tossed in 15 points for the third time in four games ... The ladies did hold Tusculum, who entered averaging nearly eight three-pointers per game, to just a single basket behind the arc ... Howard leads Catawba in both scoring (15.9) and rebounding (8.1) this season ... LoSauro is adding 11.6 points per contest and Cristi Bartlett is pulling down six rebounds a game ... The ladies will host Brevard on Wednesday in a non-conference game ... Catawba won the initial meeting in women's basketball last season at Goodman Gym ... The Lady Indians travel to Mars Hill on Saturday where they claimed a double-overtime victory, marking its first win at Mars Hill since 2003.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College women's basketball team (9-5, 1-2) split its pair of games last week on the road … L-R downed Brevard by a 59-47 score on Wednesday before falling to Newberry, 68-64, Saturday afternoon … Junior guard Meredith Webster (High Point, N.C.) tallied a season-high 16 points and hit four treys while junior forward Jackie Williams (Mauldin, S.C.) added a double-double (10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds) in the victory over the Tornados … The Bears fell to the Lady Indians despite a game-high 20 points, including 18 in the second half, from sophomore guard Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) … LaCourtney Rann (Charlotte, N.C.) added 14 points but Newberry hit 27-of-37 free throws and got 17 points from Tonique Frasier in the win … Lenoir-Rhyne hosts a pair South Atlantic Conference games on Wednesday at 6 p.m. (Mars Hill) and Saturday at 6 p.m. (Lincoln Memorial) this week … Mars Hill leads the all-time series with Lenoir-Rhyne, 33-26, but the swept the season series last year and has won three straight against the Lady Lions … Lenoir-Rhyne split the season series with Lincoln Memorial in 2006-07 with each team winning on the other's home court.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - Freshman Jasmine Gunn's career-high 28 points led the Tusculum College women's basketball team to their eighth straight win Wednesday night, defeating South Atlantic Conference rival Lincoln Memorial, 96-72 … LMU falls to 6-6, 0-3 SAC … LMU's Heather Benton accounted for 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting, while Shawna Nicols finished with 16 points and seven assists. Teammates Andi Winney (11) and Megan Davis (10) rounded out the scoring for the Lady Railsplitters … With 14:26 to go in Saturday night's game with Brevard College, it looked as though the Lady Railsplitters were going to silence the Tornados and capture their seventh win of the season when they opened up an 18 point lead midway through the second half. However, the Brevard women came roaring back in the late minutes of the game and erased the LMU lead to take the upper hand 58-57 with 5:20 to play … With the momentum now clearly blowing in the Tornado's favor, Brevard maintained the lead, stretching the margin to as many as five points in the final five minutes of regulation before the Lady Railsplitters started whittling away at the deficit … Finally, trailing by three with one second remaining on the clock, LMU executed an inbound pass to freshman Stephanie Wagner who was fouled shooting a three-pointer at the top of the circle. Wagner, who has not missed a free throw all year calmly stepped up to the line and knocked down all three shots to tie the game at 68, sending it to overtime … Although both teams had their moments in the extra stanza, it was the Lady Railsplitters that carried the momentum into a 79-72 win down the stretch largely in part on the free throw shooting of junior point-guard Shawn Nicols. Nicols hit 7-8 free throws for the game, including five from the line in overtime to take top scoring honors with 22 points while handing out a season-high 10 assists … Stephanie Wagner had possibly her best offensive performance of the season with 20 points on 6-10 shooting from the field, including 3-6 from behind the arc and the three free throws that helped LMU get into overtime. Also scoring double figures was senior Heather Benton who scored 13 of her 15 points in the first half. Sophomore Andi Winney led the Lady Railsplitters on the boards with 11 rebounds … Now 7-6 overall, the Lady Railsplitters will return to South Atlantic Conference play Wednesday evening when they play host to the Indians of Newberry College at home in the Tex Turner Arena. Newberry comes into Wednesday's meeting with Lincoln Memorial at 11-4 overall and 2-2 in league play. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m..
MARS HILL - Mars Hill split their games last week. The Lions are now 9-4 overall and 1-1 in the SAC … In the first game of the week, Brittini Young (Ramseur, NC) hit a long range 3-pointer at the buzzer to propel Mars Hill to a 62-60 victory over SAC rival Newberry College Tuesday night in Eleazer Arena … After trailing by 15 points at halftime, MHC out scored the Indians 42-25 in the second frame to obtain the win. The first half belonged to Newberry. The Indians led by as many as 20 points (33-13) with 2:57 left in the opening period after Carnicha Bellinger (Greenville, SC) hit a shot in the lane. NC would take a 35-20 advantage into the locker room at the intermission … MHC stormed out of the gates in the second stanza going on a 29-14 run to tie the contest at 49-all with 4:41 left in the contest after Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) hit a 12-foot jumper on the baseline. NC would then go on a 10-5 run over the next four minutes to lead by five points (59-54) with 57 seconds left in the game. Lindsay Roberts (Murphy, NC) would hit a jumper with 43 seconds on the clock to trim the deficit to 59-56 … After a MHC foul, Ashlee Wright (Myrtle Beach, SC) hit one of two free throws to put NC ahead 60-56. Shamia Terry (Greenville, SC) hit a shot at the elbow on the ensuing possession to bring MHC within two points (60-58) of the Indians with 25 ticks left … MHC fouled Wright on the in-bounds pass and she missed both attempts at the charity stripe to give the Lions the ball back with 16 seconds left in regulation. After the Lions tried to get a good look at the basket, Wright fouled Roberts. She missed the first attempt and then sank the second free throw attempt to bring the Lions within a single point with three seconds left to play. Newberry tried to pass the ball to half court but Young stole the ball, dribbled a few feet towards Mars Hill's basket and launched a long-range 3-pointer that found the bottom of the net as the buzzer sounded to pull off a great comeback win … Mars Hill trailed the entire game until Young sank the game-winner. After shooting only 21.9 percent (7-32) in the first half, MHC connected on 63 percent (17-27) of their field goals in the second half. Newberry hit 42.6 percent (23-54) of their attempts in the game. The Indians were only 1-12 from behind the arc … NC scored 30 points in the paint and 20 second chance points as they out rebounded the Lions, 39-35. MHC received 25 points from their bench … Jessica Blanford (Concord, NC) led MHC with 14 points while Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, GA) added 11. Schafer pulled down a game high 11 rebounds in the win. Roberts tallied 10 points in the contest. Young finished with eight points … In the second game of the week, After trailing by two points at halftime, Carson-Newman out scored Mars Hill 43-36 in the second frame to obtain a 84-79 victory in Stanford Arena Saturday afternoon … The first half saw six ties and seven lead changes before MHC took a 43-41 advantage into the locker room at the intermission. MHC hit 51.5 percent (17-33) of their shots in the first half opposed to the Eagles netting 40.5 percent (15-37) of their attempts … The second half was a field goal shooting reversal for the two squads. C-N hit 55.6 percent (15-27) of their shots while the Lions would connect on only 41.7 percent (15-36) of their attempts from the floor … After eight more ties and seven additional lead changes, Emily Mason (Rogersville, AL) hit 1-of-2 free throw throw attempts to give C-N a 80-79 advantage with 1:11 left in the game and the Eagles never trailed again … MHC had two more looks at the basket down the stretch but could not convert another field goal the remainder of the contest … The teams combined to score 62 points in the paint; 32 for MHC and 30 for the Eagles. MHC scored 15 points off 17 Eagle turnovers while C-N capitalized on 20 second chance points by out rebounding the Lions, 42-35 … Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) led MHC with 20 points and eight boards. Jessica Blanford (Concord, NC) added 12 points and also pulled down eight rebounds … Shannon Lee (Four Oaks, NC) and Shamia Terry (Greenville, SC) scored 10 points apiece to round out the double-digit scorers for the Lions. Blanford was the team's assists leader with six … MHC will play at SAC rival Lenoir-Rhyne College on Wednesday, January 16. Game time is set for an 6 p.m. start. MHC will then return home to host Catawba College at 2 p.m.
NEWBERRY - The Lady Indians went 1-1 this week…Newberry fell to Mars Hill College in a heart-breaker as the visiting Lions drained a three pointer from just inside of half court with less than a second remaining for the 62-60 win. In the second game of the week, the Lady Indians picked up their first SAC of the season by knocking off Lenoir-Rhyne 68-64…Tonique Frasier recorded two more double-doubles this week…Frasier had 24 points and 10 rebounds against Mars Hill and 17 points and 10 rebounds against Lenoir-Rhyne…Ashlee Wright recorded 10 points against Mars Hill…Against Lenoir-Rhyne, eight Lady Indians scored including Carnicha Bellinger who had 13 points…In the win against Lenoir-Rhyne, Tacarra Harris had eight points and 10 rebounds…Newberry takes to the court only once next week as they travel to Lincoln Memorial University for a 6 p.m. game on Wednesday.
TUSCULUM - Off to its best start in over a decade, Tusculum recorded a pair of South Atlantic Conference home wins in defeating Lincoln Memorial (96-72) and Catawba (85-70)… The Pioneers (12-2, 3-0 SAC) are riding a nine-game winning streak, the longest active run in the SAC and the fourth longest in school history… TC also claimed its seventh and eight consecutive wins at home… Tusculum is off to its first 12-2 start since the 1994-95 campaign… In the win over LMU, freshman Jasmine Gunn recorded a career-best 28 points, while shooting 11-for-16 from the floor, including 3-for-4 from the beyond the three-point arc… Gunn dished out 10 assists and pulled down seven rebounds in the win… Junior Nikki Van Dine added 17 points on five 3-pointers, while Ashli Oliver contributed 16 points on four treys… Jasmine Parker and Kat Spears poured in 13 and 10 points respectively… Tusculum used a 14-3 run in the second, including eight straight points… Tusculum converted 32 fast-break points and scored 28 points off of 18 LMU turnovers… TC shot 57 percent, including a sizzling 13-for-18 from three-point territory (72.2%), the second best long-range shooting performance in school history… Against Catawba, Tusculum rallied from an 11-point first half deficit as sophomore Stephany Neptune led the Pioneers with 21 points and a career-high 19 rebounds… The 19 boards are the seventh-best rebound tally ever by a Pioneer… Tusculum, which entered the game as the league's top producer of three-point field goals, was limited to only one trey in its 13 long-range attempts… Instead, Tusculum went to its inside game as the Pioneers converted 62 points in the paint, along with 20 points courtesy of the fast-break… During Tusculum's nine-game winning streak, the Pioneers are averaging 80.7 points per game, while limiting the opposition to just 64.6 ppg for a +16.1 ppg scoring margin… Oliver holds the all-time record at TC with 232 career three-point field goals (3rd in SAC history)… Tusculum has blocked a shot in 28 consecutive games… During the Coach Missy Tiber era, the Pioneers are 38-6 when scoring at least 70 points, including 12 times this year… Neptune has recorded eight double-doubles this season (tops in the league)… The Pioneers step out of league play on Tuesday with a road trip to Converse… TC defeated the Valkyries, 95-57 on Nov. 19… The Pioneers will step back into league play on Saturday when they host in-state opponent Carson-Newman.
WINGATE - The Wingate University women's basketball team finished the contest on a 10-0 run to take a 76-69 South Atlantic Conference victory over Catawba College Wednesday night at Goodman Gymnasium. The Bulldogs have won seven of their last eight games. The Bulldogs improved to 3-0 in the SAC with a 76-69 road win at Catawba Wednesday. Wingate is 9-5 overall. The Bulldogs are receiving votes in the USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 women's basketball poll … Bulldog junior point guard Anna Atkinson notched team-high totals of 21 points, nine assists and five steals. Senior guard/forward Kasey Gillis added 16 points. Wingate sophomore center Erica Crumlin contributed 10 points, seven blocks and five rebounds. Crumlin has 15 blocks in Wingate's last two victories … A NeKeithia Howard jumper put Catawba up 69-66 with 3:23 to play in the contest. A Crumlin hoop cut the Bulldog deficit to 69-68 at the 2:59 plateau. Wingate junior guard Brittany West tallied her only points of the evening on a jumper to give the visitors the lead for good 70-69 with 2:16 remaining … The Bulldogs put the contest on ice by hitting six-of-eight free throws during the final 1:08 of the game. Five players scored points during Wingate's crucial 10-0 game-ending run. Free throws were the difference, as Wingate converted 84.6 percent of its charity tosses (22-of-26) … The top shot-blocker in the South Atlantic Conference, Crumlin blocked five of her game-high seven shots in the pivotal second half. Atkinson had 14 of her game-best 21 points after intermission. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® candidate leads the Bulldogs with 15.0 points per game. Gillis is averaging 14.0 points per game in Wingate's last seven contests … The Indians led 63-55 with eight minutes remaining, thanks to two free throws from Brooke Whitley. Following the Whitley free throws, Wingate ended the game on a 21-6 run. The Indians made only three field goals in the final 9:34. Two of those three baskets belonged to Howard … Catawba won the battle of the boards 41-38, thanks to seven rebounds each from Howard and Corin Muldrow. Wingate sophomore center Stacie Rhodes and senior guard Kate Edwards topped the Bulldog charts with six rebounds each … The Wingate women's basketball team sprinted to a 25-4 lead and never looked back, topping the visiting Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith 86-45 Monday night in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldogs have won 12 consecutive games at home … Edwards led the way with 16 points for the Bulldogs. Atkinson had 11 points and 11 assists in only 19 minutes of action. Crumlin had four points, six rebounds and a career-high eight blocked shots. In all, 12 Bulldogs scored; 11 different players had at least four points for Wingate … Wingate started the game on a 14-2 run in the first three minutes. Atkinson had a lay-up and four assists in the opening stretch while Edwards nailed a pair of threes. After JCSU's Ashley Chase hit a pair of free throws, the Bulldogs reeled off 11 straight points to build the lead 25-4 with 13:35 remaining in the half. West had five points in the run … The second half started much the way the first half did, as the Bulldogs scored 12 of the first 14 points. Atkinson hit a pair of threes in the opening run that stretched the lead to 63-26. The lead would never get below 35. Wingate's largest lead was 86-44 at the 1:20 mark on a three-point field goal from freshman guard Lauren Beeson … Wingate shot 54.8 percent for the game (34-of-62); the Bulldogs converted 10-of-20 shots from three point range. Johnson C. Smith shot 22.9 percent on the evening (16-of-70), hitting one-of-nine shots from three-point land. The Bulldogs converted 25 JCSU turnovers into 34 points. The hosts also held a 21-2 edge in fast break points … The Golden Bulls held a 48-39 rebounding advantage, including a 24-5 edge in offensive rebounds. The SAC leader in steals, Wingate racked up 16 thefts in the game. Gillis topped the charts with four steals … Johnson C. Smith came into the game allowing its opponents to score only 56.6 points per game. The 86 points scored by Wingate is the most the Golden Bulls have allowed during the 2007-08 season … Atkinson averaged 16.0 points per game, 10.0 assists per game, 3.5 steals per game and 2.5 rebounds last week. On the season, Atkinson averages 15.0 points per game and 9.1 assists per game. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® candidate is number two in the NCAA Division II in assists per game. She leads the SAC in assists, steals and assist-to-turnover ratio … Three Bulldogs score double-figure points. Gillis averages 10.6 points per game, while Edwards contributes 10.4 points per game. Crumlin averages 9.1 points per game and a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game.