Weekly Women’s Basketball Notes, February 23, 2009
Women's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending February 22, 2009.
BREVARD - The Tornados went 0-2 this past week, falling in conference play to Carson-Newman on Wednesday, 106-84, and Tusculum on Saturday, 80-59 ... Brevard falls to 6-19, 0-14 in the SAC in their first season as full conference members ... Wednesday night was the WBCA PinkZone game for the Tornados ... Samantha Winn continued her recent hot streak, scoring 20 points and pulling down eight rebounds ... Amber Roberts came alive for the Tornados, going 6-8 from behind the arc for 18 points ... Amanda Whitaker added 14 in the loss ... On Saturday, Winn eclipsed the 1,000 point mark for her collegiate career with a short jumper off the right block at the beginning of the second half on her way to a 22 point-seven rebound afternoon ... Whitaker had 13 points against the Lady Pioneers and Anna Schlobohm had eight points and six assists for the Tornados ... Tusculum was up 39-25 at the end of the first half ... The Tornados brought the game back within seven as Schlobohm hit seven points and dished out a pair of assists, but Tusculum responded with a 13-2 run to put the game away ... Brevard closes out their season this week with games on the road against Newberry on Wednesday and Catawba on Saturday.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The Lady Eagles went 1-1 this week, knocking off Brevard 106-84 on Wednesday night, before falling to Lincoln Memorial University 81-79 as time expired on Saturday evening ... Carson-Newman falls to 17-8 overall and 8-6 in league play ... The Carson-Newman women's basketball team strolled past Brevard College 106-84 in their WBCA PinkZone game ... Lady Eagles junior forward Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) reached a career milestone, scoring 14 points to give her 1,007 points for her career ... C-N hit 56.0 percent (14-25). The difference in the game came on the battle of the boards as the Eagles held a 43-31 rebounding edge ... Ashley Kyle(Jefferson City, Tenn.) led the Lady Eagles (17-7, 8-5 SAC) with 23 points, while Lindsey Eggleston (Buena Vista, Colo.) scored 20 ... Ashley Tipton (Knoxville, Tenn.) had 18 points and 10 assists, Zoriah Williams (Calera, Ala.) had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Buford added 10 rebounds with her 14 points ... Buford scored the first points of the game on a layup off the pass by Eggleston and Eggleston put in a three-pointer as C-N went up 5-0 ... A jumper by Tipton put the Eagles lead back to five, before Whitaker put in a layup and a three from the top of the key to tie the game up at 7 with 16:59 left in the first half...the Eagles went on a 34-14 run to close out the half up 52-32 ... C-N kept the game in check as the lead did not go below 16 as the Eagles took the win, 106-84 ... Carson-Newman fell to LMU on Saturday night in Tex Turner Arena, 81-79 … Carson-Newman used the inside play of Lindsey Eggleston and Shari Buford to rally from an 11-point first half deficit to 9-point lead with 7:25 remaining ... Shari Buford layup with 16 seconds to play tied the game again at 79-all, before LMU would score the game's final bucket to grab the home win ... Carson-Newman's Ashley Tipton was red-hot from the perimeter, hitting 5-9 shots from the arc while leading the Lady Eagles in scoring with 21 points ... Shari Buford added another 17 points and 12 rebounds on the inside, while Ashley Kyle scored 14 and Mandy Mendenhall had 11 ... The Lady Eagles return to Holt Fieldhouse Wednesday, February 25 when they face Catawba ... Tipoff is at 6 p.m. … C-N wraps up its regular season on Saturday afternoon at home against Wingate University … Tipoff is at 2 p.m.
CATAWBA - The Catawba ladies split its two games last week, earning an 89-83 win over Lincoln Memorial before dropping a hard-fought 79-68 decision to No. 22 Lenoir-Rhyne ... Against LMU, Catawba led for most of the game before falling behind by four midway through the second half ... Brittany Higgins snapped a 71-all tie on a jumper with 5:20 left to put the Lady Indians up for good ... Higgins had all 15 of her points in the final half ... Dana Hicks led Catawba, scoring a career-high 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting ... She completed the double-double by adding 10 rebounds ... Jolysa Connor scored a career-high 13 points, while Cameron Clark dished out a career-best nine assists ... The ladies fell behind league-leading Lenoir-Rhyne 18-4 in the opening minutes, but rallied and took a 37-36 lead three minutes into the second half ... Catawba held a 60-58 lead with just under three minutes to play before L-R rallied and scored 10 straight points ... L-R then put the game away by canning all 10 free throws in the final minute ... The Lady Indians shot 54 percent in the second half after hitting just 31 percent in the opening stanza ... Hicks scored 16 points, while Kisha Long added 15 ... Hicks has taken over the scoring lead on the season for Catawba, averaging 11.9 points and game ... She is adding 7.1 rebounds ... Higgins is scoring at an 11.7 clip and needs 37 points to reach 1,000 for her career ... Catawba travels to Carson-Newman on Wednesday and closes out the regular season when it hosts Brevard on Saturday afternoon.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The No. 22 Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Basketball Team (22-3, 12-2) took the lead in the South Atlantic Conference race by a half-game when it defeated long-time rival Catawba by a 79-68 score at home on Saturday … Senior guard Brittany Mitch (McLean, Va.) led the way for the Bears with 21 points and eight rebounds while junior guard Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) added 19 points as Lenoir-Rhyne completed the season sweep of Catawba … Although L-R jumped out to an 18-4 lead, Catawba battled back and took a one-point advantage (37-36) with 16:54 remaining in the game … Trailing 60-58 with 2:52 remaining, freshman guard Whitley Culler (Mount Airy, N.C.) tied the contest at 60 with a lay-up before Mitch gave the Bears the lead for good with a three-point play … Lenoir-Rhyne hit 10 free throws in the final 1:33 and finished the game 27-of-32 from the charity stripe including 20-of-23 in the second half … L-R's 12 South Atlantic Conference Regular Season wins is the most in school history … Lenoir-Rhyne was ranked second in last week's NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Poll … The Bears' 22 wins so far this year are their most since they won 27 during the 1980-81 campaign ... Holt now has 1,081 points in her career, ranking 11th all-time … Lenoir-Rhyne plays at Wingate on Wednesday beginning before returning home to face Mars Hill on Saturday at 6 p.m., on Senior Night … Lenoir-Rhyne prevailed over both Wingate (84-75 on January 28 at home) and Mars Hill (71-65 on January 14 on the road) earlier this year … However, the Bears trail in the all-time series with both the Bulldogs (48-10) and the Lions (32-30) … Lenoir-Rhyne will be honoring its one senior for 2008-09: Jackie Williams.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The last five minutes of Wednesday night's South Atlantic Conference road game with Catawba College proved to be fatal to the Lady Railsplitter basketball team as the Indians pulled away in the final minutes for an 89-83 victory over the LMU … Statisically speaking the Lady Railsplitters put together a pretty good game and limited themselves to only 15 turnovers however, the LMU women got outrebounded by eight boards and had no answer for the inside play of Catawba's Dana Hicks who finished the night with a game-high 29 points … LMU hit 53.7 percent from the floor for the game, including 40 percent from 3-point range, while putting five players in double figures … Freshman Dayshalee Salaman and sophomore Stephanie Wagner both led the Lady Railsplitters in scoring with 16 points, while junior Andi Winney had 12 and sophomores Amberly O'Dell and Brittany Craney each chipped in 10 … The inside game was clearly the difference in the game. Between getting out rebounded and getting out scored in the paint 36-19, the lack of being able to stop the Catawba offensive attack down the stretch took a toll on the Lady Railsplitters and eventually contributed to the six point loss … When LMU and Carson-Newman play each other, you can throw the records out the window because they aren't going to matter much. Such was the case Saturday evening when the Lady Railsplitters knocked the third ranked team in the conference, Carson-Newman College 81-79 to pick up their fifth South Atlantic Conference win of the year … As has been the case in many games this season regardless of the opponent, the first half between the Lady Railsplitters and the Lady Eagles was close. After trading leads several times, the LMU women took a narrow 45-38 lead into the locker room at the half … As the second half got underway however, Carson-Newman used the inside play of Lindsey Eggleston and Shari Buford to pull out to a 9-point lead with only 7:25 remaining … The situation was all too familiar to Lady Railsplitter fans. Facing a 9-point deficit and time working against them, the Lady Railsplitters responded a little differently down the stretch then they have with other similar situations this year. Maybe it was the tradition of rivalry between the two schools. Maybe it was just the way the breaks happened in the game, or even that the Lady Railsplitters just said, "no not this time, we're not losing tonight." Whatever the reason, LMU started whittling away at the deficit and tied the game at 77 on a 3-pointer by sophomore Amberly O'Dell with less than a minute to play … Freshman point-guard Dayshalee Salaman ignited the LMU crowd with a layup at the 22 second mark that gave the Lady Splitters the lead but Carson-Newman wasn't done yet. Shari Buford returned the favor by giving the Lady Eagles hope with 16 seconds to go when she made a layup of her own to tie the game again at 79 … With timeout on the floor, the whole situation may have worked in the Lady Railsplitter's favor. Sure the game was tied 79-79, but LMU had the ball, and providing they could get it up the floor, they would have the last shot of the game … That very scenario is what materialized and with four seconds on the clock, LMU junior forward Cena Nasiloski split a seam in Lady Eagles defense and hit what turned out to be the game-winning-shot to lift LMU over Carson-Newman 81-79 … Salaman led all scorers in the game with 26 points, while O'Dell came off the bench to hit 5-12 3-point attempts and scored 18 points on the night … Also knocking down double figures were the one-two combination punch on the side of Nasiloski and junior forward Andi Winney. Each chiped in 11 points, while Nasiloski led LMU in rebounding with nine boards … The win moves the Lady Railsplitters to 11-15 overall and 5-10 in the South Atlantic Conference, while Carson-Newman falls to 17-8 overall and 8-6 in league play … Next Saturday night the Lady Railsplitters will host Newberry College in the 2008-09 regular season finale. The night will be especially emotional for seniors Kara Harris and Sarah Harrison who will be playing their final home games in an LMU uniform. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 0-1 during the previous week of play. A furious Mars Hill second half comeback led by Brittini Young (Ramseur, N.C.) came up short as Wingate won 79-64 Wednesday night inside Stanford Arena. The Lions drop to 12-13 overall and 5-9 in the SAC ... Wingate grabbed an early 7-2 lead two minutes into the game off an old-fashioned three-point play by Anna Atkinson (Marion, N.C.). A Taylor Deal (Catawba, N.C.) free throw cut the deficit to 10-8 at the 16:04 mark ... The Bulldogs switched to a full court press to speed up the game, and it paid dividends. The Lions committed three straight turnovers, while Wingate went on a 9-0 run and grabbed a 19-8 advantage with 14:37 left in the half off an old-fashioned three-point play by Stefani Shuey (Charlotte, N.C.) ... The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 14 points, 27-13, off back-to-back treys by Kurie Washington (Marion, N.C.). From that point, Wingate went on a 24-9 run. Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, Ga.) hit a running layup with no time left on the clock to end the period, but the Bulldogs led 51-22 at halftime ... Washington had 16 points in the first half and was 6-9 from the field. Wingate hit 54.1 percent (20-37) from the field, while Mars Hill hit only 30 percent (9-30) from the floor ... Both teams went scoreless in the second half until the 16:27 mark when Shuey grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in the bucket to give Wingate a 53-22 advantage ... Mars Hill tried to make a comeback midway through the second half. Young hit back-to-back three pointers as part of a 12-2 run to make the score 55-34 with 13:13 left in the game, but Wingate stretched its lead back out to 26 points, 64-38, off a shot from behind the arc by Washington with 9:58 left in the game ... Bria Smith (Snellville, Ga.) found Jessica Blanford (Concord, N.C.) under the basket for two points, and the Lions cut the deficit to 19 points, 64-45, with 8:21 to go in the game. Trailing 68-47, Mars Hill went on a 14-4 run. Young scored eight straight points to conclude the run, but Wingate led 72-61 with 2:01 left in the game. The Lions would get no closer ... Young scored a game-high 26 points with 20 of them coming in the second half. Blanford had 11 points in the game to raise her career scoring total to 1,042 points ... Mars Hill will travel to Tusculum on Wednesday. Tip-time is set for 6 p.m.
NEWBERRY - This past week, The Newberry College women's basketball team went 1-1 with a win over No. 12 Tusculum and a loss on the road to Wingate… On Wednesday the scarlet and gray took down Tusculum at home, 77-68… Two time SAC Player of the Week Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) led her squad to victory, earning a team high 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field... She also corralled eight rebounds and five assists… Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) earned her sixth double-double of the season with a team high 13 boards and 15 points... In the end, the game came down to excellent defense from Newberry… Tusculum came into the game with the second highest field goal percentage in the nation (48 percent), but only shot 32 percent from the field on Wednesday… NC also outrebounded the Pioneers, 42-36… The scarlet and gray are now 9-1 at home this season… On Saturday, Newberry earned its tenth loss of the season by falling to Wingate on the road, 83-72… Despite the loss, Laura Marquardt (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) played a fantastic game, leading her squad in both points (25) and rebounds (9)... She shot 7-for-19 from the field and nailed 10 of her 13 free throw attempts… Bulcher tied Marquardt for the game high in rebounds with nine boards herself… Bulcher also earned 15 points and two blocks… Newberry struggled from three-point range Saturday which put the team in a deep hole... They shot 2-for-15 from downtown and allowed the Bulldogs to sink 61.5 percent from three-point range... Newberry also had 15 turnovers on the day to Wingate's seven... On a positive note, Newberry outrebounded the competition, 44-31… The split puts the Newberry College women's basketball team at 15-10 overall and 8-6 in the South Atlantic Conference... They will return home this Wednesday to face Brevard at 6 pm.
TUSCULUM - The No. 12 Tusculum women's basketball team posted a 1-1 worksheet against Newberry and Brevard last week, falling 77-68 at Newberry on Wednesday before defeating Brevard 80-59 on Saturday…Tusculum enters the final week of the regular season with a 22-4 overall record and a 12-3 mark in the South Atlantic Conference to sit second in the conference standings…Jasmine Parker poured in a career high 28 points and nearly recorded a triple-double with eight rebounds and eight assists in Saturday's win over Brevard…The sophomore guard connected on 10-of-17 shots from the field and converted 7-of-8 free throw opportunities in a career-high 37 minutes…Nikki Van Dine scored in double figures for the fifth consecutive game, pouring in 16 points on a trio of three-pointers…Senior Ashli Oliver inched closer to NCAA history on Saturday, knocking down three shots from behind the arc to move into second place all-time at the NCAA Division II level with 369 career three-pointers…The 5-8 guard needs 16 triples to tie the Div. II record, and would equal the all-levels NCAA mark with 23 treys…Oliver is also 18 points shy of becoming the fifth player in TC history to pour in 1,500 points in her career…Stephany Neptune pulled down at least 15 rebounds for the second time this season on Saturday, grabbing 16 boards to retain the conference lead in rebounding with 9.5 glass-cleanings per game, and has recorded at least five rebounds in each of her last 61 contests…The junior forward also recorded three blocked shots against Brevard to become the first player in program history to surpass 130 career rejections, and is two blocks shy of tying Danyel Locklear (Catawaba 2000-04) for seventh in SAC history …Neptune is currently 20 markers shy of the 1,000-point mark for her career…Freshman Staci Hicks joined Neptune in double-digit rebounds on Saturday with a career-high 10 boards…Four players scored in double figures on Wednesday against Newberry, including Van Dine's second straight 20-point game and her fourth of the season, as the senior knocked down six three-pointers to pace the Pioneers… Shantae Shank needs just four points to record 900 markers in her career and has posted a career-high 51.9 percent field goal percentage so far this season…Tusculum has posted a field goal percentage of at least 43 percent in 18 of its last 19 games, to enter the week ranked second in the nation with a 47.7 percent clip from the floor this season…The Pioneers are a perfect 12-0 on their home floor this season, having won their last 26 games in Pioneer Arena dating back to the spring of 2007 to tie the school record for longest home winning streak…Tusculum is 14-1 this year when blocking at least five shots, and are a perfect 15-0 when holding its opponents to less than 70 points…The Pioneers are averaging a SAC-best 84.5 points per game while outscoring their opponents by 19 markers per contest to lead the conference…Tusculum has shot 80.6 percent from the free throw line over its last 12 games to move into the third spot in the conference with a 73.9 percent clip at the charity stripe this season…Tusculum concludes its regular season at home on Wednesday when the Pioneers host Mars Hill College at 6 p.m. in Pioneer Arena.
WINGATE - The Wingate University women's basketball team won two games last week. On Saturday, five players hit double figures as the Bulldogs celebrated senior day with an 83-72 South Atlantic Conference victory over Newberry College Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena. With the victory, Wingate improves to 16-9 overall and 7-7 in the SAC ... Wingate freshman guard Kurie Washington led the hosts with 19 points. The McDowell High School product hit three-of-five from three-point land. Bulldog senior point guard Anna Atkinson (Marion, N.C.) kept pace with her fellow McDowell High alum, as the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® first team member had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Atkinson did not make a turnover in 38 minutes of action ... Bulldog senior guard Brittany West had a hot hand, hitting four-of-four from downtown en route to a 12-point performance. Sophomore guard CC Brooks and junior center Stacie Rhodes contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively ... The Bulldogs shot 41.7 percent from the field (25-of-60), while hitting eight-of-13 three-point attempts. Wingate committed only seven turnovers on the afternoon, while Newberry turned it over 15 times. Thanks to her zero-turnover afternoon, Atkinson should hold her lead as the number one NCAA Division II player in assist-to-turnover ratio. The Bulldog bench outscored the Newberry reserves by a whopping 52-10 ... In post-game ceremonies, the Wingate University athletic department honored four seniors playing their final season in the blue-and-gold. In addition to Atkinson and West, seniors Paige Mincey and Leslie Tucker suited up for their final Saturday contest in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldogs also recognized senior student athletic trainer Sarah Mackintosh ... Wingate's four seniors have won two SAC regular season championships and one Food Lion SAC tournament crown. In 2008, the Bulldogs won the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional tournament and earned a berth in the Elite Eight. Wingate has participated in the NCAA post-season three-of-three years during the class of 2009's tenure. The Bulldogs are 90-31 overall during this four-year span, posting a 42-6 ledger in the friendly confines of Cuddy Arena ... On Wednesday night, Washington posted a team-high 25 points as the Bulldogs topped Mars Hill 79-64 in Stanford Arena on the MHC campus. Atkinson contributed 17 points, five steals and four assists for the Bulldogs. Sophomore forward Stefani Shuey added 11 markers. Wingate led 51-22 at halftime ... Washington had 16 points in the first half and was six-of-nine from the field. Wingate hit 54.1 percent (20-37) from the floor in the opening frame, while Mars Hill hit only 30 percent (9-30) from the floor in the first 20 minutes ... Atkinson leads the NCAA Division II in assist-to-turnover ratio. She tops the Bulldog scoring charts with 16.0 points per game. Washington is Wingate's second-leading scorer with 14.4 points per game. In SAC play, she is averaging 17.7 points per game. During Wingate's last seven games, Washington is delivering 20.1 points per game ... The Bulldogs return home Wednesday night, hosting number 22 Lenoir-Rhyne at 6 p.m. Wingate concludes the regular season with a 2 p.m. afternoon matinee at Carson-Newman Saturday.