Weekly Women’s Basketball Notes, February 18, 2008

Women's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending February 17, 2008.

BREVARD - The Brevard College women's basketball team split this past week, moving to 8-15 overall on the season ... On "Think Pink" Night on Wednesday night, the Tornados used a hot start out of the gates and solid team defense to hold on for their second win of the season over North Greenville, a 65-55 home victory in front of a "pink" crowd ... The Tornados opened up the game on a 13-0 run in the first five minutes of play, hitting four of their first five shots of the game and forcing North Greenville to call a timeout to stop the run ... The Tornados shot 41.4 percent from the field in the opening half and forced the Lady Crusaders into 14 turnovers and 7-of-22 from the floor to take a 31-20 halftime lead ... In the second half, Brevard pushed their lead to 17 points on a three-pointer by Holly Krogman at the 13:05 mark. However, that would be the Tornados last bucket until the 8:41 minute remark, as the Lady Crusaders went on a 13-0 run of their own to cut the BC lead to four at 45-41 ... After the Tornados pushed the lead up to six at 51-45 after six made free throws, North Greenville battled back to take a 52-51 lead on a three-point basket ... The Tornados knotted the score up at 52-52 on a made free throw by Millie Wharton. Wharton then missed the second free throw, which was rebounded by forward Kelsey Sill who then put the Tornados up 54-52, hitting a jumper in the paint ... On the next possession, the Lady Crusaders tied up the score again on an Amanda Milner lay-up with 4:06 remaining in the game ... In the final four minutes of play, the Tornados outscored North Greenville 11-1, hitting their free throws down the stretch to seal the 10 point win ... As a team BC shot 84.2 percent from the charity stripe in the second half, hitting 16-of-19 attempts ... Leading the way for BC was Krogman with 20 points to go along with her team-high six rebounds ... Fellow senior Courtney Brandon added 13 points and a team-high seven assists for the contest, while freshman forward Amanda Whitaker had 10 points ...The Brevard College women's basketball team outscored the Wingate Lady Bulldogs 38-29 in the second half of their game on Saturday afternoon, but ultimately came up just short, falling to Wingate, 70-66 ... Wingate pushed their lead to 12 points at 15-3 at the 16:40 mark of the opening half, when the Tornados began to make a run of their own, rolling off 11 unanswered points of their own to cut the Lady Bulldogs lead to one at 15-14 with 11:06 to play ... After the two teams traded three-point baskets, the Tornados did not get any closer for the remainder of the first half, as Wingate had an answer for every BC offensive run and closed out the half on a 10-3 run to take a 41-28 halftime lead ... Although the Tornados shot 40 percent from the floor in the first half, they had 17 turnovers which lead to 20 Wingate University points ... In the second half, the Lady Bulldogs continued to hold on to a double-digit lead over the Tornados, pushing the lead up to 17 points with 6:04 remaining in the game ... Yet Brevard did not go away, as two made free throws by sophomore guard Lindsay Thrift at the 5:18 mark started a 14-3 Tornados run that cut the Wingate lead down to five, 65-60, with 1:02 to play in regulation ... After a lay-up by Wingate's Erica Crumlin pushed the lead back to 67-60, the Tornados came down and answered with a three-pointer from freshman forward Amanda Whitaker, cutting the lead to four at 67-63 with 25 seconds left on the clock ... Wingate's Kate Edwards knocked down two free throws with 11 seconds left to push the Lady Bulldogs lead back to six at 69-63 ... On the ensuing offensive possession the Tornados senior guard Courtney Brandon used a screen from fellow senior Holly Krogman to get open and hit a three-point basket to put the score at 69-66 with six seconds left on the clock ... However, time would run out on the Tornados as Wingate's Anna Atkinson hit one of two free throws with 3.9 seconds to go to seal the 70-66 road win for Wingate ... The Tornados shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the second half, including going 5-of-11 from behind the three point line, while holding the Lady Bulldogs to 27 percent shooting from the field ... BC was led by freshman Amanda Whitaker, who had a game-high 17 points on the day ... Senior Holly Krogman had 15 points, while fellow co-captain Courtney Brandon had 12 points, all coming off three-point baskets ... Sophomore Samantha Winn pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with her five points ... The Tornados will be on the road this week, as they will travel to Carson-Newman on Wednesday night and to Greeneville, T.N. on Saturday to square off with the league leading Tusculum Lady Pioneers.

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles finished 1-1 on the week, moving to 12-11 overall and 6-5 in the SAC…C-N opened the week with a 72-65 win on Wednesday night at Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory, North Carolina…Carson-Newman broke a 59-59 tie on a layup by freshman Nikki James with 2:12 to play…Junior Angela Volentine hit four straight free throws to help the Lady Eagles match their largest lead of the game at six points, leading 65-59 with 56 seconds to play…Neither team led by more than six in the game…C-N outrebounded L-R 52-30, overcoming 24 turnovers…Volentine finished with 18 points and seven rebounds…She was 10-of-10 at the free throw line…Senior Emily Mason finished with 12 points and 14 boards…Sophomore Shari Buford added 11 points and six rebounds…Freshman Nikki James had one of her best games, finishing with 10 points, six boards, and two blocks in 19 minutes…The Lady Eagles may have won the game at the line, knocking down 33-of-42 free throws…With the win, C-N sweeps the series with L-R…The Lady Eagles lost their home date Saturday night to SAC-leader Tusculum…The Lady Eagles turned the ball over 24 times in the loss…Buford led the Lady Eagles with a solid double-double, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds…She also had four blocked shots…Mason chipped in with 12 points and nine boards…the Lady Eagles continue to be a strong rebounding team, outrebounding opponents by 12.1 boards per game…Carson-Newman wraps up a three-game homestand as it hosts two home games this week, beginning with Brevard on Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse…Lincoln Memorial visits Saturday for a 6 p.m. tip…Saturday will be senior night at Mossy Creek, and will wrap up C-N's home schedule for the regular season.

CATAWBA - The Catawba women split a pair of games over last week ... The ladies took a 65-62 win at Newberry on Wednesday, but fell at home 84-60 to Mars Hill on Saturday ... Catawba never trailed against Newberry, but needed late free throws by Hillary Hampton and NeKeithia Howard to hold on for the win ... Catawba shot 53 percent in the victory and were led by Howard and Hampton who each scored 16 ... Brittany Higgins followed with 14 points and Crisit Bartlett posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds ... The Lady Indians struggled against Mars Hill, making just 35 percent of their shots and had 22 turnovers ... Kisha Long led in scoring, coming off the bench to equal her career-high of 12 points ... Sicilia LoSauro and Cameron Clark each had 10 points ... Corin Muldrow will miss the remainder of the season with a back injury and Nisha Long has been out of action since mid-January with an ankle injury ... Hampton and Higgins have also missed time this season with injuries ... Howard is the only Lady Indian averaging in double figures at 15.5 a game ... She is hitting on 58 percent of her field goal attempts ... Catawba will hit the road on Wednesday as its travels to Lincoln Memorial ... The Lady Indians will host Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College women's basketball team (12-11, 3-8) split its pair of South Atlantic Conference games this week, falling to Carson-Newman (72-65) at home on Wednesday before holding off Lincoln Memorial (49-47) Saturday evening in Harrogate, Tenn. … Angela Volentine tallied 18 points for Carson-Newman, who held a 52-30 advantage on the boards and hit 33-of-42 (79 percent) free throw attempts in the victory … Sophomore guard Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) led all scorers with 27 points, tying a season-high, despite the loss for the Bears … Redshirt freshman LaCourtney Rann (Charlotte, N.C.) led all scorers with 14 points and hit the game-winning shot with 12 seconds left in the victory over the Lady Railsplitters … L-R held Lincoln Memorial without a field goal for the final 5:18 and without a point for the last 2:42 of the contest … Lenoir-Rhyne's defense also limited LMU to just 33 percent (14-of-43) shooting and forced 24 turnovers … Holt and sophomore forward Jacquelyn Kremer (Sevierville, Tenn.) added 10 points each for the Bears … The win against Lincoln Memorial snapped a six-game losing streak for Lenoir-Rhyne against South Atlantic Conference foes … L-R returns home to face Converse (Wednesday at 6 p.m.) before traveling to Salisbury, N.C. to face SAC-rival Catawba (Saturday at 2 p.m.) … Lenoir-Rhyne won the earlier meetings this year with Converse (77-51 on November 16 in the season opener in Mars Hill, N.C.) and Catawba (82-67 on December 5 in Hickory, N.C.) … L-R also leads the all-time series with Converse (5-0) and Catawba (30-29) as well.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - Mars Hill College defeated the visiting Lady Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial University 62-58 Wednesday night in Stanford Arena. LMU fell to 11-11 on the season and 2-8 in the league … LMU jumped out to a 12-point (20-8) lead with 11:47 left in the first half after Andi Winney converted an old-fashioned 3-point play. MHC was able to close out the first half on a 20-12 run to trim the deficit to four points (32-28) at the break … LMU started the second frame on a 8-4 run to lead by eight points (40-32) with 15:33 on the clock after Winney manufactured another 3-point play. MHC then out scored the Lady Railsplitters 16-7 over the next seven minutes to enjoy their first lead of the game at the 8:53 mark after Ariel Okunowo hit a layup … The game remained close down the stretch. Kara Harris gave LMU a 54-52 advantage with 4:58 left in the contest after hitting a shot from behind the arc. Jessica Blanford hit what would prove to be the game winner with 1:36 left in regulation when she connected on a shot in the lane … LMU had a chance to win or tie with 15 ticks left but MHC forced an LMU turnover to seal the win. Okunowo scored an insurance basket off the miscue to make the final tally, 62-58 … Winney led LMU with 13 points and six boards followed by Heather Benton and Harris who added 10 points apiece … LMU edged the Lions in rebounds, 35-31. MHC scored 40 points in the paint and 10 off the break … After shooting well in the first half (48 percent) the Lady Railsplitters cooled off in the second stanza hitting only 34.5 percent (10-29) from the floor. LMU was only 2-10 from behind the arc in the second half … In a game that went down to the wire, the Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne College left Lincoln Memorial University's Tex Turner Arena on Saturday night with a narrow 49-47 win over the Lady Railsplitters, dropping the LMU women below the .500 mark for the first time this season … Lincoln Memorial and Lenoir-Rhyne entered Saturday's South Atlantic Conference game as near mirror images of each other. The Lady Railsplitters and the Bears both carried 11-11 overall records into the contest and both had 2-8 league marks entering the game … After Saturday night's game, one of the two teams would fall below the .500 mark, a place the Lady Railsplitters have not been all season. Neither team led by more then seven points throughout the contest and it was Lenoir-Rhyne College that took a narrow two point 27-25 margin into the locker room following the first twenty minutes of play … In the second half, the Lady Railsplitters and the Bear continued to go toe-to-toe, with LMU leading until the 1:08 mark when LRC's LaCourtney Rann tied the game on a jumper in the lane. In the final minute of play, the Bear's were able to get to the free throw line and knock down two shots which turned out to be the difference in the game and Lenoir-Rhyne came away with the 49-47 win over LMU. Rann led all scorers with 17 points, while LRC's Amber Holt, Jacquelyn Kremer and LMU's Andi Winney and Megan Davis all contributed 10 points each.

MARS HILL - Mars Hill won both of their games last week. The Lions are now 14-9 and 5-6 in the SAC … In the first game of the week, Mars Hill College defeated the visiting Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial University 62-58 Wednesday night in Stanford Arena … Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, GA) led the Lions with 20 points followed by Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) and Jessica Blanford (Concord, NC) who added 14 points apiece. Brittini Young (Ramseur, NC) was the only other player in double-figures for MHC. She scored 10 points, had six rebounds and five assists. Schafer led the Lions in rebounds with nine … LMU jumped out to a 12-point (20-8) lead with 11:47 left in the first half … MHC was able to close out the first half on a 20-12 run to trim the deficit to four points (32-28) at the break. LMU started the second frame on a 8-4 run to lead by eight points (40-32) with 15:33 on the clock after Andi Winney manufactured another 3-point play … MHC then out scored the Railsplitters 16-7 over the next seven minutes to enjoy their first lead of the game at the 8:53 mark after Okunowo hit a layup … The game remained close down the stretch. Kara Harris (Alcoa, TN) gave LMU a 54-52 advantage with 4:58 left in the contest after hitting a shot from behind the arc. Blanford hit what would prove to be the game winner with 1:36 left in regulation when she connected on a shot in the lane … LMU had a chance to win or tie with 15 ticks left but MHC forced an LMU turnover to seal the win. Okunowo scored an insurance basket off the miscue to make the final tally, 62-58 … LMU edged the Lions in rebounds, 35-31. MHC scored 40 points in the paint and 10 off the break … In the second contest of the week, Mars Hill freshman Brittini Young (Ramseur, NC) scored 23 points to help lead the Lions to an 84-60 win over host Catawba in South Atlantic Conference in women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gym … Young had 16 of her points in the opening half, which included two of her three-pointers, as Mars Hill took a 42-30 lead at the break … A 10-0 run midway through the first half gave the Lady Lions a 28-15 edge and Catawba would never pull within single digits from there. Mars Hill would hit five of its first six shots of the second half to help push its lead to 55-34 just over five minutes into the final half … The Lady Lions hit on 52 percent in the second half to just 32 percent for Catawba … Young scored her 23 points by hitting on a trio of three-pointers and going perfect on 10 tries at the line … Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) added 14 points and Jocelyn Williams (Greensboro, NC) had 12 points and seven rebounds … Mars Hill held a 42-32 edge on the boards.

NEWBERRY - The Lady Indians dropped their only game of the week with a 65-62 decision to Catawba… Newberry erased a 12 point deficit with less than five minutes to play but saw their comeback efforts fall short when a potential game-tying three point attempt could not beat the buzzer… Newberry shot 31.5 percent on the night led by Tonique Frasier who recorded her 11th double double of the season with a game high 22 points as well as a game high 13 rebounds… Laura Marquardt had a season high 14 points… Janine Ward led Newberry's defense with four steals in the game… Newberry is 1-4 in home SAC games but has proven to be road warriors going 5-1 in conference play when they are the visitors… Newberry travels to Tusculum next Wednesday and hosts Wingate Saturday.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum women's basketball team extended its winning streak to six in a row with two league wins over Wingate (92-79) and Carson-Newman (69-51)… With the two victories, the Pioneers improve their record to 21-3 overall and 11-1 in the South Atlantic Conference… Freshman guard Jasmine Gunn scored 18 points, while sophomore Stephany Neptune tallied a double-dozen as TC posted an 18-point win at Carson-Newman… Tusculum sweeps the season series against the Lady Eagles for the first time as a NCAA Division II member while ending a drought in Jefferson City, spanning over 15 years… Gunn scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half as she fired 7-for-10 from the floor on the night, including a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point territory…. Neptune posted her 14th double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while also accounting for four steals… Junior Shantae Shank added 12 points, three assists, two blocks and three steal in the victory… Leading 28-23 at halftime, Tusculum scored the first seven points of the second half including back-to-back steals and lay-ups by Shank and a three-pointer by junior Ashli Oliver as the Pioneers moved out to a 35-23 advantage with 18:28 remaining… Carson-Newman later trimmed the deficit to nine (45-36) with 13:11 left on the clock… Tusculum answered with a 14-6 spurt over the next six minutes, capped off by a Gunn jumper as TC led 59-42 at the 4:52 mark. C-N would cut the TC lead to 59-46, but that would be as close as the Lady Eagles would get… Tusculum forced 24 turnovers, converting the C-N miscues into 32 points… TC shot 47.5 percent in the game, including 18-for-32 (56.3 percent) in the second half, while Carson-Newman shot 40.4 percent in the contest, including 36 percent in the final 20 minutes… In the Wingate game, Neptune recorded 12 points and school-singe game record 23 rebounds to lead Tusculum to a 92-79 win over the Bulldogs… The Pioneers take over sole possession of first place in the league while ending an 11-game losing streak to the Bulldogs… The victory also secured Tusculum its first 20-win season in over a decade… Shank accounted for her first double-double of the season with 21 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Oliver, the reigning SAC Player of the Week, added 21 points, including her five 3-pointers… Gunn added 20 points and four assists… Neptune also blocked a career-best six shots, tying Tusculum's single-game record in that category… The Bulldogs controlled the first half, taking a 35-22 lead on a jumper with 4:35 remaining in the half… Tusculum ended the half on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 37-32 at intermission… During the run, freshman Brittni Oliver tallied a three-pointer while Shank went 4-for-4 from the free throw line… The Pioneers would grab the lead in the second half, scoring the first seven points of the second half to take its first lead of the evening at 39-37 with 19:01 remaining following a three-pointer by Ashli Oliver… With the scored tied at 58-58, Tusculum erupted for an 11-0 run as the Pioneers led 69-58 as Oliver answered with another trey… TC followed with a 12-3 spurt to put the game away as the Pioneers led 83-65 with 3:53 remaining following a coast-to-coast lay-up by freshman Jasmine Parker… Oliver at the 9:27 mark pushed the lead to 11… A lay-up from Shank made it 79-62 with 6:44 remaining. The lead would not go below 12 the rest of the way… After shooting just 23.5 percent in the first half, Tusculum fired 57.9 percent in the second half… For the game, the Pioneers were 30-of-72 (41.7 percent) from the field… Wingate shot 41 percent (34-of-83) from the field. Tusculum held a decisive 59-39 rebounding advantage, while holding a 23-10 edge in second-chance points… Tusculum will be at home for two games this week, hosting Newberry and Brevard… A win over Newberry, would clinch at least a share of Tusculum's first-ever South Atlantic Conference championship.

WINGATE - The Wingate University women's basketball team went 1-1 on the week, making the Bulldogs 16-7 overall and 8-2 in the SAC. The Bulldogs had their six-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday, falling 92-79 at Tusculum. Wingate rebounded Saturday with a 70-66 win at Brevard ... Senior guard/forward Kasey Gillis (Indian Trail, N.C.) led the Bulldogs with 20 points at Tusculum Wednesday. It was her second consecutive game with at least 20 points. Junior guard Anna Atkinson (Marion, N.C.) added 17 points and nine assists. Sophomore center Erica Crumlin (Irmo, S.C.) had 12 points, seven rebounds and seven blocked shots ... On Saturday at Brevard, Atkinson notched her fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 assists. She was four-for-five from beyond the arc. Atkinson also recorded a game-high four steals. On the week, Atkinson had 19 assists and one turnover. Senior guard Kate Edwards (Laurinburg, N.C.) added 14 points at Brevard, while Crumlin added 10 points and five rebounds ... The Bulldogs came out hot Saturday, taking a quick 11-0 lead at the 17:29 mark. Edwards had five early points in the flurry. Brevard had the answer, going on a 14-4 run to cut the lead to one. Four different players scored for the Tornados during the spurt ... Wingate never gave up the lead in the first half, slowly stretching it back to double digits. Atkinson hit a three with 59 seconds to go to give the Bulldogs a 39-28 lead. Freshman guard Emily Parrish (Brevard, N.C.) hit a jumper with 23 seconds left to give Wingate a 41-28 lead at intermission ... The Bulldogs would keep a double-digit lead throughout most of the second half. Two free throws from freshman guard Lauren Beeson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) made it 57-40 with 11:47 remaining. Parrish drained a three with 5:08 to go to give the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game at 18 ... Brevard responded with a furious 13-0 run to cut the lead to five at the 1:02 mark. A Crumlin lay-up made it 67-60 with 38 seconds left. The Tornados answered with a three to cut the lead to four. Edwards hit a pair of free throws on the other end to stretch the lead back out to six with 11 seconds remaining ... Another Brevard three with six seconds left cut the lead to three. Atkinson hit a free throw on the other end to secure the four-point victory ... Wingate shot 34.7 percent (25-of-72) from the field, while going eight-for-23 (34.8 percent) from beyond the arc. Brevard shot 46.2 percent (24-of-52) from the field, while hitting nine-of-22 (40.9) from three-point range. The Tornados held a slim 36-35 edge in rebounding. The Bulldogs converted 26 Brevard turnovers into 27 points ... Atkinson leads the Bulldogs with 14.9 points, 8.6 assists and 3.8 steals per game. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III women's basketball first team member leads the conference in assists, assist/turnover ratio and steals. She ranks second nationally in assist/turnover ratio, third in assists and fourth in steals. She has eight games this year with double-digit assists ... Gillis is second on the team with 11.8 points per game. She is shooting 82.4 percent from the free throw line, fourth best in the SAC. Edwards is third on the team with 11.1 points per game. She has hit 56 threes on the year, while shooting 36 percent from beyond the arc ... Wingate returns home Wednesday to take on Mars Hill. In the first meeting this year, the Bulldogs won 86-81 in overtime. Five players scored in double figures for Wingate, led by Atkinson's 16. She also had eight assists and seven steals ... The Bulldogs travel to Newberry Saturday. Wingate topped the Indians 72-64 in December. Bulldog junior guard Brittany West (Valdese, N.C.) led the way with 16 points against Newberry. Atkinson added 11 points, seven assists and four steals.