Weekly SAC Women’s Basketball Notes - Dec. 11

Women's basketball game recaps and notes for week ending Dec. 10, 2006

CARSON-NEWMAN - C-N defeated Maryville and Converse to improve to 7-1 on the season. The Lady Eagles (6-1) gave head coach Dean Walsh his first win over his alma mater with an explosive second half. Carson-Newman shot 54 percent from the three-point line and 52 percent from the floor that half ... After building a mere two-point lead in the first half, Stefanie Holbrook swished a three-pointer to start the second half and Casha Foster scored after a steal for a 39-32 lead. After Emily Mason made one of two free throws, Holbrook hit a jumper to give C-N a 10-point lead ... Maryville would get as close as five points after a Summer Dalton trey, but the Lady Eagles went on a 12-0 run midway through the second half to put the game out of reach ... Holbrook led the way with 17 points while Mason notched another double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Ashley Tipton and Angela Volentine added 11 points apiece. Shari Buford added eight boards and nine points ... Ashley Tipton led a trio of Lady Eagles which scored 11 points as Carson-Newman defeated Converse, 73-48 to earn their seventh win of the season ... C-N shot just 35 percent from the floor, but Converse could only manage 29 percent shooting ... Converse kept pace with the Lady Eagles, taking an early 7-6 lead, but Tashe LedBetter's layup gave C-N the lead for good as the Eagles went on a 10-4 run to take an 18-11 lead with 10:17 to go in the first half ... A scary moment came midway through the first half when forward Emily Mason left the game with an injury. The Lady Eagles recovered and went on a 17-4 run ... Tipton capped that streak with a three-pointer as C-N led 32-15 with 4:20 remaining and took a 36-15 lead at the half. In the second half, C-N built a 32-point lead after Casha Foster's two free throws gave Carson-Newman a 66-34 lead with 6:34 remaining ... The Lady Eagles were 3-for-7 from beyond the three-point arc. Stefanie Holbrook led C-N by shooting 60 percent (3-for-5) from three-point range in the second half ... Shari Buford and Stefanie Holbrook finished with 11 points apiece while Buford grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Lady Eagles. Tipton led C-N with seven assists while Tykira McDaniel was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line ... Holbrook had a good week. She was 6-of-14 (43 percent) from three-point range for the week and shot 60 percent from beyond the arc in the win over Converse.

CATAWBA - The Catawba women claimed a pair of wins to run its current winning streak to eight games ... Catawba earned an 82-72 win at Pfeiffer and topped Coker 73-58 at home on Saturday ... The eight game winning streak is the longest for Catawba since claiming nine straight wins at the end of the 2003-04 season before a loss in regional play ... The Lady Indians led most of the way in the win at Pfeiffer, but had surrendered an eight-point lead when Pfeiffer went on top 64-63 with 6:41 left ... Andrell Baxter hit a three-pointer to put Catawba back on top then converted a three-point play off a steal from Tamekia Foster for a 69-64 lead with 5:24 remaining ... A six-point run in the closing minutes pushed the lead to 78-68 and secured the win ... Ne'Keithia Howard had a career-high 24 points in the win, connecting on 9-of-10 shots and 6-of-7 at the line ... Foster had 17 points and eight rebounds ... Catawba shot 51 percent for the game, including nearly 60 percent in the final half ... The ladies held a 49-32 edge on the boards which helped offset 29 turnovers ... After falling behind early to Coker, Catawba would cruise to the home win ... Down 8-2, the ladies used a 15-2 run to grab a 17-10 lead and went on to take a 35-21 edge at the break ... Catawba would push its lead to 25 in the opening four minutes of the final half ... Foster and Hillary Hampton each scored 14 points in the win, while Corin Muldrow added 10 points off the bench ... Foster also had six rebounds, three assists and three steals ... Catawba shot just 38 percent, but had just 15 turnovers to 27 for Coker ... Catawba hit on 18-of-21 at the line, including a perfect 8-for-8 performance from Hampton ... Hampton is the only Catawba player currently averaging double figures at 10.3 a game ... Foster (9.4) and Muldrow (9.0) follow, while Brittany Higgins is averaging 8.8 a contest ... Catawba holds nearly a +4 edge in rebound and a +5 edge in turnover margin ... Catawba continues to shoot well, hitting on 44 percent from the field and 70 percent at the line ... The Lady Indians will conclude its pre-Christmas schedule with a trip to Hawaii ... Catawba will face Concordia (MN) on Dec. 19 and BYU-Hawaii on Dec. 20 in the Hoop 'N Surf Classic in Honolulu ... The ladies will open SAC play on Jan. 3 as they host Lenoir-Rhyne.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College women's basketball team (3-2) played just once last week, falling to Armstrong Atlantic State, 69-66, on the road Tuesday at Alumni Arena in Savannah, Ga. … Lenoir-Rhyne, which rallied from a 14-point second deficit to take the lead in the last minute of play before falling, shot just three-for-15 (20 percent) from behind the three-point line … Freshman guards Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) and Jami Safrit (Newton, N.C.) each scored 14 points to lead the Bears while Safrit added eight rebounds and four assists … Lenoir-Rhyne both losses came this year to the Lady Pirates by a combined seven points … Kaneetha Gordon (20 points and 13 rebounds) was key in Armstrong Atlantic State's win … Lenoir-Rhyne next hosts Livingstone on Saturday at 2 p.m., inside Shuford Memorial Gymnasium … Lenoir-Rhyne leads the all-time series with Livingstone, 2-0.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The Lady Railsplitters overcame a lot of adversity to pick up a pair of road victories over Brevard and Virginia State last week ... On Dec. 2, LMU Coach Roger Vannoy's father was killed in a traffic accident and the next day junior forward Heather Benton's father passed away following a long terminal illness. Assistant coach Dawn Skelcher was literally thrown into the fire as she not only had to help see the team through their grief but also prepare the team for a big road game at Brevard in which LMU would not have both the head coach and the leading scorer. It was the first time since 1982 that Roger Vannoy was not on the LMU sideline, a span of 686 games ... In the game against Brevard, LMU never trailed and out-rebounded BC 24-9 in the first half en route to a 38-19 total on the boards…. LMU had four players in double-figures, led by senior Madeline Richards with 20 points…. Richards became the schools all-time career three-point leader when she hit her 164th trey in the first half against Brevard ... In the game at Virginia State the Lady Railsplitters took a while to get going, holding only a 21-16 lead at the half. LMU was led by Andi Winney's 16 points and nine rebounds. Betsy Bowser had 15 points and Madeline Richards scored eleven… Richards also became the 16th LMU player to join the 1,000 club as she reached that milestone in the second half… LMU has not been out-rebounded this season and that trend continued when they out-rebounded VSU 41-26…. LMU closes out the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule when they travel to King on Dec. 16. It is the first time that King and LMU have met since the 1986-87 season and LMU leads the series 15-0.

MARS HILL - MHC went 1-1 on the week. In the first contest of the week, the Lions lost at NCAA Division I rival UNC Asheville Monday night, 62-47 ... After leading 29-28 at the half, MHC was out scored 34-18 in the second stanza. The first 13 minutes of the second half were played as close as the first half. Those minutes of the contest saw seven ties and five lead changes before the Bulldogs pulled ahead for good with 7:02 left in regulation after Amanda Elder hit a shot in the lane to give UNCA a 49-47 advantage ... MHC would not score the remainder of the contest while UNCA added 13 unanswered points to make the final tally, 62-47. Mars Hill's final field goal in the game came at the 8:18 mark when Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) hit a jumper ... Schafer and Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, TN) led MHC scoring 10 points apiece. The duo also added eight and six rebounds in the contest, respectively ... MHC struggled from the floor hitting only 29.5 percent (18-61) of their field goals in the game. The Lions did make 90 percent (9-10) of their free throws ... Ashton Barton and Amanda Elder led the Bulldogs with 13 and 12 points in the game, respectively. Elder added 10 rebounds for a double-double ... After hitting only 36.4 percent (12-33) of their shots in the first half, UNCA converted 52.2 percent (12-23) of their field goals in the second half ... UNCA won the rebound battle, 43-to-38. UNCA scored 38 points in the paint and received 26 points off their bench ... In the first half, MHC led by a point (29-28) thanks in large part to balanced scoring and taking care of the basketball. UNCA enjoyed an eight-point lead (20-12) with 9:29 remaining in the first frame after Kyla Jones hit a shot from behind the arc. MHC then scored nine unanswered points over the next four minutes to take their first lead of the contest (21-20) when DeBusk capped off the run with a 3-pointer. Stacy Shepard gave the Bulldogs a one-point lead (22-21) at the 4:45 mark but Jessica Blanford (Concord, NC) gave the Lions a 23-22 advantage with 3:20 left in the first half and the Lions would maintain their lead the rest of the first period ... In the second game of the week, Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, TN) hit a 12-foot jumper with 18:31 left in the first half to give the Lions a 4-2 lead and MHC never looked back as they went on to a 21-point (72-51) victory ... After Debusk's go-ahead basket, MHC went on a 25-to-4 run over the next 10 minutes to take their largest lead (29-6) of the half at the 8:17 mark of the first frame after Heather Hahn (Mishawaka, IN) hit a shot in the lane. The Lions would go into the locker room at halftime ahead 40-22 ... The second half belonged to the Lions as they extended their advantage to as many as 25 points (53-28) with 14:28 left in regulation after Shannon Lee (Four Oaks, NC) scored in the paint. Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) gave the Lions their largest lead of 26 points (72-46) in the contest with 4:28 left in the game when she hit a 15-foot jumper. The Lions cruised down the stretch to the 21-point victory ... DeBusk and Schafer led the Lions with 14 points apiece. The duo recorded seven and six rebounds in the win, respectively. Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, GA) added 11 points while Lindsay Roberts (Murphy, NC) rounded out the double-figure scorers for MHC with 10 points ... Jenetta Smith led BSC with 13 points followed by Hyshea Branche with 10 points in the loss. Branche added nine rebounds in the game. MHC edged the Blues in rebounding, 39-to-37. MHC converted on 50 percent (30-60) of their field goals while BSC hit only 35 percent (21-60) of their shots. MHC scored 22 points off BSC turnovers and received 17 points off their bench ... MHC will host Ashland University on December 19. Game time in Stanford Arena is set for a 6 p.m. start. MHC is now 5-2 on the year.

NEWBERRY - Newberry College improved to 9-0 on the season, continuing the best start in school history with two wins over the week ... The Lady Indians hosted Limestone College on December 6, cruising to a 15-point victory over the Lady Saints, 77-62. Monica Alexander posted 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor. The junior point guard was 8-for-8 from the free throw line and also grabbed six rebounds, dished out five assists and scratched out five steals ... Three other Lady Indians scored in double-digits including junior Tonique Frasier who posted 18 points. Sophomore Carnicha Bellinger had 15 points and junior guard Ashlee Wright had 11 ... Newberry held Limestone to 32 percent shooting in the second half after being down by one point at the halfway mark ... On December 9, Erskine College traveled to Eleazer Arena. The Lady Indians played suffocating defense holding Erskine to 17.8 percent shooting from the floor ... Allowing just 28 points to the Flying Fleet, Newberry set a school record for points allowed eclipsing the 29-point mark set last year against Allen ... Frasier posted her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds while also registering three steals. Monica Alexander and Ashlee Wright each scored in double-digits with 11 and 10 points respectively.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian was idle last week. The Blue Hose (3-4) return to action with three games this week. Presbyterian will face Coker at 6 p.m. at home on Wednesday. Friday, the Blue Hose travel to North Greenville for a 5:30 game and conclude the week with a road trip to USC Upstate on Sunday for a 2 p.m. game.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum women's basketball team posted an 82-49 home win over Benedict College in its only game of the week. The Pioneers improve to 7-1 on the season. Redshirt freshman Diana Neves recorded a career-high 22 points off the bench in the win over Benedict... The Pioneers (7-1) shot 54 percent from the field, including 11-of-23 from three-point territory. Neves accounted for almost half of TC's three-point production shooting 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, while teammates Chassity Martin (13), Shantae Shank (11) and Ashli Oliver (10) also posted double-digit scoring. After taking a 36-26 lead at halftime, Tusculum opened the final period with a 23-3 run over a span of 7:15. During that spurt, the Pioneers went 8-for-11 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from three-point land as TC led 59-32 with 10:47 left in the game. Tusculum would finish the game with a 16-4 run in the final six minutes of the contest. Tusculum forced 30 turnovers, resulting in 42 points as the Pioneers accounted for 15 steals, including four each by Carlie Lakey and Brooke Underwood. Underwood also contributed seven points and a game-high 11 assists. Tusculum will play its final game before Christmas when it hosts NCAA South Atlantic Region foe Francis Marion University for a rare noon tip-off this Thursday.

WINGATE - Wingate University senior guard Tanetra Barrett made four-of-four free throws in the final 20 seconds to give the number 13 Bulldogs a hard-earned 58-57 NCAA Division II women's basketball victory over Francis Marion University Monday night (Dec. 4) in Cuddy Arena ... Barrett led Wingate with 18 points. Her clutch free throws helped the Bulldogs recover from relinquishing a 17-point lead with 9:01 remaining in the contest. The Bulldogs led 45-28 on a tip-in by senior center Emily Paffrath with 9:01 to play in the second half. A three-point field goal by Barrett kept the Wingate lead at 50-34 with 6:31 left in regulation ... At this point, Francis Marion mounted a 21-4 run to take the lead on Katherine Kiefer lay-up with 1:41 to go. Kiefer's final points of the evening gave the Patriots a 55-54 advantage. During Francis Marion's furious flurry, Wingate was one-for-five from the floor with five turnovers and six fouls. Barrett had the team's only field goal during this five-minute stretch, a two-pointer with 2:55 to play ... Kiefer's lay-up gave the visitors their first lead since the 13:24 mark of the first half. The two teams traded misses after Kiefer's lay-up, setting the stage for Barrett's heroics. The 2006 All-American hit two free throws in a one-and-one situation with 20 seconds to go to give Wingate the lead for good at 56-55 ... Francis Marion committed a turnover on the other end to give Wingate the ball. The Patriots fouled Barrett again with 12 seconds to go. This week's South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week calmly hit both tries to make the score 58-55 Bulldogs. FMU missed a potential game-tying three-point field goal with three seconds left. The Patriots hit a follow shot with 0.7 seconds to go to account for the game's final points ... Against Francis Marion, Paffrath had 16 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots for Wingate. Senior forward Kerri Metzker added 15 points for the Bulldogs. Barrett, Paffrath and Metzker shot a combined 21-of-37 from the floor (56.8 percent) versus the Patriots ... The No. 13 Wingate University women's basketball team dropped a home contest for the first time since February 23, 2005, as the Bulldogs fell to Johnson C. Smith University 67-56 in a NCAA Division II match up in Cuddy Arena on Saturday night. Wingate falls to 7-2, while JCSU improves 5-2. The Bulldogs had won 15 straight games at home ... Barrett notched her first double-double of the season with a game-high 20 points and a team-high 10 rebounds against JCSU. Paffrath and sophomore point guard Anna Atkinson (Marion, N.C.) both contributed 11 points each. Paffrath also had a game-high four blocked shots, while Atkinson added seven assists ... The first 10:13 of the JCSU at Wingate game saw eight lead changes. The Golden Bulls pulled away with a 21-6 run in the final 8:01 of the half, to lead 36-23 at intermission ... The Golden Bulls out rebounded Wingate by a count of 53-34. The Bulldogs held the edge in points in the paint 30-28, but JCSU had 31 second-chance points compared to only six for Wingate ... Wingate will travel to the West Virginia State Classic for games on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 29-30. The Bulldogs will take on the University of Charleston (W.Va.) on Friday (6 p.m.) and West Virginia State University on Saturday (4 p.m.). Johnson C. Smith returns to Brayboy Gymnasium Thursday, hosting Claflin University for a 6 p.m. contest ... The Wingate University women's basketball team was ranked number 13 in last week's USA TODAY ESPN Division II top 25 coaches' poll, announced by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The poll was the second ranking of the 2006-07 campaign ... Wingate's seven wins this season gives head coach Johnny Jacumin 575 victories for his illustrious Bulldog career. Coach Jacumin is fourth on the NCAA Division II winningest active coaches win 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.