Weekly Women’s Basketball Notes, March 2, 2009

Women's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending March 1, 2009.

BREVARD - The Tornados went 0-2 for the week, falling on Wednesday to Newberry 77-46, before dropping their season finale against Catawba on Saturday, 67-57...Brevard falls to 6-21 during the regular season and 0-16 in their first season as full members of the South Atlantic Conference...On Wednesday, Brevard came out fast behind the play of two freshmen, Holli Flippo and Kelly Hudler as the two combined for the Tornados first 16 points, staking Brevard to an early 16-9 lead...The Tornados kept the lead for the first 12:45 of the first half, before Newberry finally tied up the game with 7:15 remaining in the opening period...Flippo put in a Hudler miss in the closing seconds of the first half as the Tornados kept the game within 10 at 38-28...Flippo led the Tornados with 16 points, while Hudler added 11 in her first collegiate start...Samantha Winn was held under 10 points for the first time in 11 games, recording nine for the contest...On Saturday, in Salisbury, N.C., the Tornados held a 34-33 lead through the first half as Amanda Whitaker scored 11 points, going 4-6 from the field, while Winn had nine points and three assists...In the second half, Catawba came out with a 9-0 run through the first 6:24 before Winn put in a layup for the Tornados...Brevard brought the game back within seven late in the game, but late Catawba free throws ended the Tornados season...Winn had 23 points in the game to go with seven rebounds, and Whitaker finished the game with 13 points and nine rebounds...For the regular season, Samantha Winn ends up the year as the conference's second-leading scorer, with a 16.4 ppg average, and finished fourth in rebounds with 7.8 per game...With zero seniors on the team, Coach Shannon Reid looks to have everyone return next season as the Tornados gear up for their second season as full members of the South Atlantic Conference.

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles split a pair of South Atlantic Conference games to move to 18-9 on the year and 9-7 in SAC play…The Carson-Newman women's basketball team used a solid defensive performance to cruise past Catawba 93-62 Wednesday night in South Atlantic Conference action at Holt Fieldhouse…The Lady Eagles held Catawba to 30.4 percent (21-of-69) shooting, including just 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from behind the arc…Junior forward Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) tallied 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead C-N…Lindsey Eggleston (Buena Vista, Colo.) and Ashley Tipton (Knoxville, Tenn.) chipped in 14 points each for the Lady Eagles, while Ashley Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) netted 11 in the win…It was the 13th time the Lady Eagles have scored more than 90 points this season…The Lady Eagles shot 50.7 percent (34-of-67) from the floor, including a 6-for-20 night from 3-point range…C-N also made 19-of-23 (82.6 percent) attempts from the free-throw line, while Catawba went 18-for-20 at the charity stripe…The Lady Eagles opened the game on a 14-4 run capped by an Angela Volentine (North Platte, Neb.) jumper with 14:13 remaining…C-N continued to pull away, as Buford converted an old fashion 3-point play at the 7:42 mark to push the Lady Eagles' lead to 34-15…Kyle knocked down a jumper with 10 seconds left on the clock to give C-N a 46-27 advantage heading into the locker room…The Lady Eagles took control of the game in the second half, pushing their lead to as much as 35 points on a putback by Tykira McDaniel (Griffin, Ga.) with 4:54 left…Catawba was unable to cut C-N's lead to below 26 points the rest of the way…The Carson-Newman women's basketball team fell to Wingate 99-90 in a South Atlantic Conference matchup Saturday on senior night at Holt Fieldhouse..The Lady Eagles outshot Wingate 61.4 percent (35-of-57) to 48.5 percent (32-of-66), but 22 turnovers proved to be too much for C-N to overcome…The Lady Bulldogs scored 25 points off C-N's turnovers…Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) fired in 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead five Lady Eagles in double figures...Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) tossed in 17 points, Ashley Tipton (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Angela Volentine (North Platte, Neb.) added 14 points each and Zoriah Williams (Calera, Ala.) chipped in 10 in the loss…A jumper by Buford at the 17:35 mark gave the Lady Eagles an early 7-2 lead, but Wingate responded with a 13-3 run capped by a Gladney Brown (High Point, N.C.) basket that gave the Lady Bulldogs a 15-10 advantage…C-N answered with a 16-5 run to take a 26-20 lead on an old fashion three-point play by Tipton with 10:48 left…However, Wingate closed out the half by outscoring the Lady Eagles 31-19 to take a 51-45 lead heading into the locker room…Wingate pushed its lead to as much as 13 points midway through the second half on a layup by Washington that gave the Lady Bulldogs a 76-63 lead…C-N made one final push as it went on a 19-9 run to cut Wingate's lead down to 85-82 on a layup by Williams with 5:22 remaining, but the Lady Bulldogs put the game away by outscoring the Lady Eagles 14-8 the rest of the way…Carson-Newman and Wingate square off again on Wednesday and again in Holt Fieldhouse in the first round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament…Tipoff is at 7 p.m…The winner will face the Tusculum/Lincoln Memorial winner on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Hickory, N.C.

CATAWBA - The Catawba women splits its two league games last week ... The ladies fell 93-62 at Carson-Newman on Wednesday then closed out the regular season with a 67-57 win over Brevard ... Catawba was never in the game at C-N, shooting just 30.4 percent and a mere 27 percent in the second half ... Carson-Newman led by 19 at the half and a 12-2 run midway through the second half put the game away as the Eagles went on top 67-40 ... Nisha Long led Catawba with 14 points with Dana Hicks adding a dozen ... Maggie Sullivan and Brittany Higgins each had 10 points ... Catawba did hit on 18-of-20 at the line and finished the week by canning 39-of-43 at the stripe in the two games ... Against Brevard, Catawba trailed for much of the first half ... A three-pointer at the buzzer of the first half by Long cut the Tornado lead to 34-33 at the break and gave the Lady Indians some momentum ... Higgins opened the second half on jumper in the opening seconds and Catawba never trailed ... A three-point play by Higgins capped a 9-0 run to start the final stanza for the ladies and a jumper by Brooke Whitley pushed the lead to 48-36 with 12 minutes left ... Brevard closed within 60-53 with just over two minutes left, but another three-point play by Higgins helped seal the win ... Catawba iced the game with four free throws in the final 25 seconds ... The Lady Indians are a perfect 37-of-37 on free throws in the final two minutes of games when the margin is under 10 points ... Higgins led Catawba with 16 points, including a dozen after the break ... She moved within 11 of reaching 1,000 points for her career ... She had 14 and 12 points vs. Newberry in the regular-season meetings ... Long followed Higgins with 13 points and each grabbed nine rebounds ... The Lady Indians will travel to Newberry for its first round SAC Tournament game ... The teams split regular-season meetings ... Newberry claimed an 88-72 win at Eleazer Arena.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The No. 16 Lenoir-Rhyne University women's basketball team (23-4, 13-3) clinched a share of the 2008-09 South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship with Tusculum after splitting its pair of games last week … On Wednesday, the Bears fell to the Bulldogs on Wingate by an 89-78 score on the road before defeating the Lions of Mars Hill by a 71-52 score at home on Saturday … Three Wingate players - Sarah Rosser (26 points), Anna Atkinson (25) and Kurie Washington (23) - combined for 74 points in the win … Lenoir-Rhyne lost despite a team-high 20 points and seven rebounds from Denise Moore and five players scoring in double figures … On Senior Night (Jackie Williams was honored prior to the game), Lenoir-Rhyne was able to grab a share of the league title with its victory over Mars Hill behind 17 points from junior guard Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) and 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds from junior guard Jami Safrit (Hickory, N.C.) … The league title was the second in history for Lenoir-Rhyne (the 2003-04 team shared the championship with Wingate and Catawba) … The Bears' 23 wins in a season are the most since it finished 27-8 during the 1980-81 campaign … On L-R's all-time scoring list, Amber Holt is 11th in points with 1,118 … Lenoir-Rhyne is also ranked second in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Poll … The Bears' 13 league single-season victories are a school record as well and their second seed in the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament is their highest ever … L-R will face Mars Hill, the seventh seed, on Wednesday beginning at 6 p.m., at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium … The Bears have beaten the Lions twice this year but Mars Hill leads the all-time series, 33-30 … Lenoir-Rhyne has not won a first round tournament game in five years.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - On Saturday night, the Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team ended the regular season with a 78-59 loss to Newberry College in the Tex Turner Arena … Newberry's big and physical inside game proved to be too much for the Lady Railsplitters who were out rebounded 50-27 and out scored 36-18 in the paint … NC's Helen McKinney led all scorers with 25 points but it was the inside play of Anita Bulcher that got Newberry going early. Bulcher finished the night with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, with 11 of those points coming in the first 20 minutes of play … Teammate Laura Marquardt also contributed 14 points, helping to move the Newberry record to 17-10 overall and 10-6 in the South Atlantic Conference … LMU was paced by the inside play of junior Cena Nasiloski. Nasiloski led the Lady Railsplitters in scoring and rebounding with 17 points and seven boards, while senior Kara Harris finished her final appearance in the Tex Turner Arena with 15 points, including three 3-pointers … The Lady Railsplitters fall to 11-6 overall and 5-11 in the South Atlantic Conference … Saturday evening's loss pairs the no. 8 seed Lady Railsplitters against no. 1 seed Tusculum College in the first round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament next Wednesday in Greeneville, Tennessee, while No. 3 seed Newberry will host no. 6 seed Catawba in the quarterfinals in Newberry, South Carolina.

MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 0-2 during the previous week of play. With the loses, the Lions drop to 12-15 overall and 5-11 in the SAC. Mars Hill will travel to Lenoir-Rhyne Wednesday night for the first round of the SAC tournament at 6 p.m. ... Jasmine Gunn scored 29 points and Stephany Neptune recorded a double-double to lead the No. 15 Tusculum College women's basketball team to a 86-68 South Atlantic Conference win over Mars Hill College on Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena ... Tusculum connected on 43.8 percent of its shots from the field, including a 48.4 percent clip in the first half. The Pioneeers also shot 43.8 percent from three-point range (7-for-16) as Mars Hill posted a 37.8 percent field goal percentage in the loss. Tusculum won the battle on the glass 50-40 ... Mars Hill was led by Taylor Deal's (Catawba, N.C.) season-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Brittini Young (Ramseur, N.C.), the SAC's leading scorer this season, poured in 12 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Jocelyn Williams (Greensboro, N.C.) joined Deal and Young in double figures with 12 points, while Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, Ga.) dished out a squad-best six assists ... The Lions set the tempo early in the game, scoring eight of the first 12 points to take an 8-4 lead on a jumper by Deal at the 17:28 mark. Tusculum then found its rhythm, launching a 12-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to take a 16-8 lead on a layup by Neptune with just under 15 minutes remaining in the half ... Tusculum continued to set the pace over the next few minutes, opening a pair of 10-point leads before Deal converted a three-point play to pull the Lions within four at 25-21 with 9:03 left before halftime. The Pioneers would stretch the lead to nine with two quick baskets, but Mars Hill fought back to cut the margin to 39-36 on a jumper by Williams with 2:15 left in the half. Tusculum responded with a 5-0 run to close out the period and head into the intermission with a 44-36 lead ... The two teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the second half, until Oliver knocked down a three-pointer at the 16:49 mark to put Tusculum up 53-42 and launch the Pioneers on an 11-4 run to take a 61-46 lead with 13:13 remaining. Mars Hill would cut the lead to 67-60, but Nikki Van Dine scored six of her 12 points on back-to-back treys as part of a 14-2 run by the Pioneers to put the game away and give Tusculum an 81-62 advantage with 4:16 to go ... No. 16-ranked Lenoir Rhyne captured a share of the 2008-09 South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship with a 71-52 victory over Mars Hill Saturday night inside Shuford Gymnasium ... The Lions led early in the first half, 9-6, off a three-pointer by Brittini Young (Ramseur, N.C.). The Bears opened up a tight game at the midway point of the first half. With the game tied at 13, Lenoir Rhyne went on a 19-7 run over the course of seven minutes to gain a 12 point lead. An old-fashioned three point play by Brittany Mitch (McLean, Va.) at the 3:54 mark gave the Bears a 32-20 advantage ... Lenoir Rhyne led 36-25 at halftime. Young led all scorers with nine points and was three-of-four from three-point range ... Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) opened the second half with a trey to increase the Bears' lead to 39-25. A jumper by Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, Ga.) cut the deficit to single digits, 44-35, but the Lions would get no closer. A layup by Denise Moore (Newport News, Va.) with 5:08 remaining in the game gave Lenoir Rhyne an 18 point lead, 62-44 ... Taylor Deal (Catawba, N.C.) recorded a double-double for Mars Hill with a game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. Young had 15 points.

NEWBERRY - This past week, the Newberry College women's basketball team finished the regular season with wins over Brevard and Lincoln Memorial… On Wednesday, the scarlet and gray earned their 10th home victory of the season by defeating the Brevard Tornados Wednesday night, 77-46… Academic All-American Laura Marquardt (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) drained six three-pointers on her way to a game high 24 points... This is her third game of the season with six three-pointers made or more, tying school record…. Marquardt now has a Newberry record 69 three-pointers made this season… Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) earned her seventh double-double of the season with a game high 10 rebounds and 16 points… Newberry's premier center shot 8-for-10 from the field… Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) earned team high's in both assists (5) and steals (6)… She was also one board shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds… Newberry followed its weekend loss with a strong effort on offense... The team shot 49 percent from the floor and had four players in double figures… They are now 9-0 when four players score 10 or more points... Newberry, third in the nation in rebounding margin, out rebounded Brevard, 47-25… Newberry finished the regular season strong with a road victory vs. Lincoln Memorial, 78-59… Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) had one of her best games for Newberry as she tied her career high of 25 points... She shot 7-for-16 from the floor and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line... Bulcher earned her eighth double-double of the season with a team high 11 rebounds and 15 points… Newberry won the game by playing solid defense and slamming the boards... The road squad held LMU to 19-for-53 form the floor on the night and grabbed 23 more rebounds than the opposition… The scarlet and gray also took advantage of LMU's 17 turnovers by scoring 23 points off TO's… The Newberry College women's basketball team finishes the regular season at 17-10 overall and 10-6 in the SAC... The win gives the scarlet and gray the third seed in the 2009 SAC tournament, which begins this Wednesday... They will take on sixth seeded Catawba at home in the first round at 6 pm.

TUSCULUM - The No. 15 Tusculum women's basketball team defeated Mars Hill College 86-68 in its regular season finale on Wednesday to clinch a share of its second consecutive South Atlantic Conference title, and secure the top seed in the Food Lion SAC Tournament for the second straight year...Tusculum enters the SAC Tournament with a 23-4 overall record and a 13-3 mark in conference play…Sophomore Jasmine Gunn became the second Pioneer in as many games to nearly record a triple-double, leading all scorers with 29 points on Wednesday while dishing out nine assists and grabbing seven rebounds…Gunn posted career highs in field goals (13) and field goal attempts (26) while recording her eighth 20-point game of the season…Stephany Neptune notched her 10th double-double of the season with 16 points and 18 rebounds, while dishing out a campaign-high five assists…The Wallkill, N.Y. native also registered two blocked shots to move into a tie for seventh in SAC history with 134 career rejections…Neptune is now just four points shy of the 1,000-point plateau in her career and is 23 boards away from becoming the third player in program history to eclipse the 900-rebound mark…The 5-9 junior leads the conference in rebounding with 9.9 boards per game while averaging a career-best 13.3 points per contest…Neptune has also recorded at least five rebounds in each of her last 62 games…Ashli Oliver knocked down a trio of three-pointers against Mars Hill to become the second player in NCAA Division II history to connect on at least 370 career triples, currently ranking second all-time with 372 treys…The senior needs 13 three-pointers to tie the Div. II record, and would equal the overall NCAA mark with 20 triples…Oliver is also seven points shy of becoming the fifth player in school history to score 1,500 points in her career…Nikki Van Dine knocked down four shots from behind the arc to score in double figures for the sixth straight game, and is one triple shy of tying Chassity Martin's mark of 159 three-pointers which ranks second in program history…Senior Shantae Shank recorded seven points against Mars Hill to eclipse the 900-point plateau in her career and has posted a career-high field goal percentage of 51.9 percent this season…Tusculum has posted a field goal percentage of at least 43 percent in 19 of its last 20 games to enter the week ranked second in the conference with a 47.5 percent clip from the floor this season…The Pioneers are a perfect 13-0 on their home floor this season, having won a school-record 26 straight games in Pioneer Arena dating back to the spring of 2007…Tusculum is 15-1 this year when blocking at least five shots, and are a perfect 16-0 when holding its opponents to less than 70 points…The Pioneers are averaging a SAC-best 84.6 points per game while outscoring their opponents by 19 markers per contest to lead the conference…Tusculum has shot 80.5 percent from the free throw line over its last 12 games to move into the third spot in the conference with a 74.1 percent clip at the charity stripe this season…Tusculum begins its run at the SAC Tournament crown with a quarterfinal matchup against Lincoln Memorial at Pioneer Arena on Wednesday night at 6 p.m.

WINGATE - Wingate University senior guard Anna Atkinson had six steals to become the all-time South Atlantic Conference steals leader as the Bulldogs defeated host Carson-Newman College 99-90 in Holt Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon. Winners of five straight, Wingate improves to 18-9 overall and 9-7 in the SAC. Wingate will play Carson-Newman in the first round of the Food Lion SAC tournament Wednesday in Jefferson City ... Atkinson added 19 points and six assists on her record-setting day, as she now has 355 career steals. Bulldog freshman guard Kurie Washington scored a career-high 30 to top the Wingate scoring charts. Both Atkinson and Washington graduated from McDowell High School in Marion ... Washington hit 11-of-12 from the free throw line on the afternoon. Wingate sophomore forward/guard CC Brooks added 15 points, while junior forward Sarah Rosser contributed 10 markers ... The Bulldogs used a 9-0 run midway through the first half to turn a six point deficit into a 29-26 lead. Washington had five points in the spurt. Another 9-0 Wingate run gave the Bulldogs a 46-33 lead with four minutes remaining in the half. Wingate got three-pointers from Atkinson, Washington and senior guard Brittany West to take a 13-point lead. The Eagles answered with a 12-2 run to cut the lead to three. Atkinson drained a three with two seconds left to make it 51-45 at halftime ... A pair of free throws and a lay-up from Washington gave Wingate a 76-63 lead midway through the second half. Carson-Newman used a quick 5-0 spurt to slice the lead to 85-82 with 5:22 remaining. Wingate led 89-85 when the Bulldogs put together a pivotal 6-0 run. The visitors capped the flurry with a Washington jumper at the 1:35 mark, making the score 95-85 Bulldogs. The lead would never go below nine down the stretch ... The Bulldogs shot 48.5 percent from the field (32-of-66), while knocking down eight-of-20 from beyond the arc. Wingate hit 27-of-31 free throws (87.1 percent). The Eagles shot 61.4 percent from the field on the afternoon (35-of-57), while draining five-of-10 from three-point land. The Bulldogs converted 22 Carson-Newman turnovers into 25 points. Wingate committed only seven turnovers Saturday ... On Wednesday night, Wingate had three players score 20+ points as they topped number 16 Lenoir-Rhyne University 89-78 in Cuddy Arena. Wingate was led by Rosser, who netted a career-high 26 points ... Rosser was eight-for-10 from the field, while hitting all five three-point attempts on the night. Atkinson added 25 points. The two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® first team selection had four assists and four steals as well. Washington contributed 23 points and a team-high eight rebounds ... In the second half, the Bulldogs used a 20-10 run that lasted over five minutes to turn a three-point deficit into a 57-50 lead. Atkinson started the run with a steal and a lay-up. Rosser capped the run with a three at the 13:23 mark. She had 11 points in the pivotal spurt ... Lenoir-Rhyne trimmed the deficit to five with 11:43 remaining. The Bulldogs responded with a 15-5 run to take a 74-59 lead with 5:47 to go. Atkinson hit four free throws to get the run started, while Washington finished it with a lay-up, a three-pointer and two free throws. A three-pointer from Rosser at the 3:57 mark gave the hosts their largest lead at 80-63. Lenoir-Rhyne would get no closer than nine the rest of the way ... The Bulldogs shot 45 percent from the field in the game, while shooting 54.2 percent in the second half. Wingate outscored the LRU Bears 52-39 in the second frame. Wingate hit nine-of-18 shots from beyond the arc, while draining 26-of-32 free throws (81.3 percent). Lenoir-Rhyne shot 47.6 percent from the field, while hitting seven-of-17 from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs converted 20 LRU turnovers into 24 points. The Bears held a 36-31 rebounding advantage ... This year, Atkinson leads the NCAA Division II assist-to-turnover ratio (3.9). She is listed in the NCAA Division II top 20 in assists per game (third, 7.0) and steals per game (17th, 3.6). She leads the SAC in these three categories. Also, she is second in the SAC in free throw percentage (84.3) and third in the SAC in scoring (17.4 points per game) ... Washington leads SAC first-year players in scoring with 15.3 points per game. In SAC games, she is averaging 18.8 points per game. In Wingate's last nine games, Washington is scoring 21.6 points per game. On the SAC charts, Washington is fourth in free throw percentage (83.7), fourth in three-point field goal percentage (44.4) and fifth in scoring (15.3 points per game).