Weekly Women’s Basketball Notes, February 2, 2009

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

BREVARD - The Tornados fell in a couple of hard-fought contests this past week to Newberry at home on Wednesday, 74-61, then made a 24-10 run to get back into the game at Mars Hill on Saturday, before falling to the Lions on the road, 73-61 ... The Tornados fall to 5-14, 0-9 in the South Atlantic Conference ... On Wednesday, Samantha Winn picked up her fifth double-double of the season, but it wasn't enough as Newberry rode two 20 plus point scorers in Helen McKinney and Anita Bulcher to take the win, 74-61 ... Newberry had a 37-24 lead at the half, and improved their lead to 43-36 early in the second half, before Brevard put together a 30-12 run that spanned 9:46 as a layup by Winn gave the Tornados their first lead in the second half at 56-55 with 7:51 left in the game ... However, the Tornados were unable to muster any offense in the last 4:05 of the contest in falling, 74-61 ... On Saturday, Mars Hill was up 25-9 in the first half, before Brevard stormed back with a 24-10 run of their own as Holli Flippo hit three from behind the arc and Winn scored 11 points in the opening period, but the Lions went into the half with the lead 35-33 ... In the second half, the Tornados continued to battle, keeping the game within striking distance, getting within three on one occasion with 4:19 to play, but were unable to close out in falling to the Lions, 73-61 ... Winn has scored at least 15 points in the past four games, and averaged 16.5 ppg and 8 rpg this past week ... Flippo has connected on at least two three-pointers in the past seven games, dating back to the January 12 against Erskine College, and has scored double figures in the past five games ... The Tornados continue their inaugural SAC season with a game at home in Boshamer Gymnasium on Wednesday against Lenoir-Rhyne, before finishing out the week on Saturday at Lincoln Memorial.

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles split a pair of South Atlantic Conference games on the week, to fall to 15-5 overall and 6-3 in SAC play…The 1,000-point club watch begins this week as two Lady Eagles are likely to join the club by season's end…Senior Ashley Tipton (968 career points) and junior Shari Buford (942) are both within striking distance of the milestone…C-N slipped at Catawba in overtime on Wednesday night, 77-75…Red-shirt freshman Dana Hicks beat the buzzer of overtime with a layup to give host Catawba a 77-75 victory over Carson-Newman …Hicks layin on a pass from Nisha Long came as the buzzer sounded to give the Lady Indians its first league home win… Shari Buford posted a double-double to lead Carson-Newman, scoring 16 points and adding 13 rebounds… Mandy Mendenhall also scored 16 points and had six assists…Kyle and Tykira McDaniel each added 10 points, while Angela Volentine pulled down 11 boards…Catawba trailed 71-66 early in overtime, but a jumper by Hicks and a three-pointer by Whitley tied the contest with 2:46 remaining…The lead switched hands four times before Ashley Kyle (Jefferson City, TN) hit the second of two free throws for Carson-Newman to tie the game at 75-all with 34 seconds left to set up the finish. ..The Lady Indians also trailed in regulation after Ashley Tipton (Knoxville, TN) put C-N on top 66-63 on a pair of free throws with 36 seconds to play… Whitley tied the contest on a three-pointer with 26 seconds left. Kyle missed a jumper in the lane for Carson-Newman in the final seconds and Long missed a last-second jumper for Catawba…Carson-Newman erased an 11-point deficit in the final five minutes of the first half, using a 13-2 run to tie the contest on a pair of free throws by Buford with 47 seconds left before the break…A three-point play by McDaniel gave the Lady Eagles 34-31 edge at the break…The Lady Eagles kept the lead most of the second half until baskets by Hicks and Clark put Catawba on top 61-58 with 1:41 left…Mendenhall converted consecutive three-point plays on the next two C-N possessions to give the Lady Eagles a 64-63 edge…The game was somewhat marred by a leaky roof in Goodman Gymnasium...Kyle slipped twice in second half, including with a 74-73 lead with 90 seconds to play in overtime…Carson-Newman bounced back with a solid defensive effort to pull out a 68-64 win over Newberry on Saturday night at Holt Fieldhouse…The Lady Eagles trailed 62-61 with 2:43 remaining before a Mendenhall jumper sparked a 7-2 C-N run to close out the game. C-N held Newberry to 37.5 percent (24-of-64) shooting on the night, including just two made baskets over the final five minutes and 19 seconds of the contest…The 64 points allowed are the fewest C-N has given up this season. .. Tipton paced the Lady Eagles with 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Kyle and Mendenhall chipped in 12 points each, while Buford added eight points and eight rebounds for C-N. ..C-N shot 45.5 percent (20-of-44) from the field, including a 7-for-10 effort from behind the arc…The Lady Eagles made 21-of-32 free throw attempts, while Newberry was 10-for-15 at the charity stripe…Newberry held the advantage on the boards by outrebounding C-N 40-32, including 19 offensive rebounds…The first half went back and forth with the lead changing hands five times…The Lady Eagles opened the game on a 10-3 run capped by a Tipton 3-pointer with 15:23 remaining…Newberry scrapped back with a 10-2 run to take the lead at 13-12 on a trey by Keisha Henderson at the 13:16 mark…C-N later went back in front at 19-18 on a 3-pointer by Mendenhall with 9:24 left on the clock, but Marquardt answered with a three for Newberry to give it the lead back at 21-19 with 8:44 left…A Kyle 3-pointer at the 4:43 mark gave C-N the lead for the rest of the half at 27-26… The Lady Eagles outscored Newberry 13-8 to close out the half to take a 40-34 lead heading into the locker room. ..The Lady Eagles quickly pushed their lead to 10 at 44-34 to open the second half after another 3-pointer by Tipton and a made free throw by Volentine…However, Newberry turned the intensity up on both ends of the floor and responded with a 15-3 run to take a 49-47 lead on a layup by Bulcher with 9:30 remaining…The lead then switched hands six more times before Mendenhall's jumper with 2:17 remaining gave the Lady Eagles the lead for good at 63-62...The Lady Eagles return to action on Saturday at Mars Hill for a 2 p.m. tilt with the Lions…C-N won the season's first meeting in January, 95-78.

CATAWBA - Catawba won its lone game of the week in dramatic fashion when Dan Hicks scored on a layup at the buzzer of overtime to lift the Lady Indians to a 77-75 win over Carson-Newman ... Nisha Long delivered the last of her seven assists to find the open Hicks ... The Lady Indians trailed by five early in overtime, but a Hicks basket and a three-pointer by Brooke Whitley brought the Lady Indians back ... Catawba started its last possession with just over 30 seconds to play, but Long missed in the lane before Whitley tracked down the rebound and tipped it back to Long, who drove inside and dished off to Hicks ... Whitley helped force overtime with a game-tying three-pointer with 26 seconds left ... Cameron Clark equaled a career-high with 22 points, canning four three-pointers ... Whitley also hit four from behind the arc and scored 14 of her 16 points after the opening half ... Hicks finished with 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds ... Whitley pulled down nine rebounds and Clark had eight ... The Lady Indians hit on a season-high eight three-pointers in the win ... The Lady Indians will return to action on Wednesday as the host Wingate ... Catawba travels to Tusculum on Saturday afternoon.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne women's basketball team (18-2, 8-1) ran its winning streak to seven games and took over sole possession of first place in the South Atlantic Conference after winning a pair of league homes games last Wednesday and Saturday, respectively, against Wingate (84-75) and No. 8 Tusculum (77-64) … Against the Bulldogs, junior guard Brittany Mitch (McLean, Va.) led the way with 22 points, including 19 in the first half, as L-R built a 19-point (45-26) first half lead and was able to hold on for the win … Junior forward Denise Moore (Newport News, Va.) added 14 points and nine rebounds and junior guard Jami Safrit (Hickory, N.C.) finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists as the Bears hit 91 percent (19-of-21) of their free throw attempts in the victory … Kurie Washington scored 22 points coming off the bench for Wingate but it wasn't enough … Lenoir-Rhyne avenged an earlier loss to Tusculum behind Safrit's 22 points, six assists and five rebounds … Sophomore Jacquelyn Kremer (Sevierville, Tenn.) added 12 points off the bench as the Bears held a 40-28 advantage on the boards en route to the win … L-R, which never trailed in the contest, jumped out to a 14-point, first-half lead (33-19) and pushed its advantage to as many as 17 points late in the second half on two occasions in the victory … Lenoir-Rhyne was once again impressive from the foul line, connecting on 25-of-29 attempts (87 percent) including a nine-for-nine performance from Safrit … Lenoir-Rhyne was also the top-ranked team in last week's NCAA Division II Southeast Regional rankings … The Bears are off to their best start in 29 years, when the 1979-80 squad started the year 19-1 … Junior guard Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) now has 1,027 points for her career, good for 13th place on Lenoir-Rhyne's all-time list … Lenoir-Rhyne hits the road for a pair of South Atlantic Conference road games this week against Brevard (Wednesday at 6 p.m.) and Newberry (Saturday at 2 p.m.) … L-R won earlier this season against both the Tornados (61-45) and the Scarlet and Gray (61-59) … Lenoir-Rhyne also leads the all-time series as well with both Brevard (5-0) and Newberry (20-11).

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - Wednesday evenings match-up between the Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team and non-conference opponent North Greenville University was lights-out for the Crusaders who were upended 110-74 by the Lady Railsplitters … LMU blistered the nets to place seven players in double figures and hit a season-high (and LMU record) 16 3-pointers en route to their seventh win of the season … The Lady Railsplitters hit 59.7 percent of their shots from the floor and 50 percent of their shots outside the arc to break NGU early in the game … LMU senior Kara Harris led the Lady Railsplitters in scoring with 22 points by hitting 6-9 shots outside the circle and finished 8-11 from the field … Teammate Andi Winney got the Lady Splitters rolling early in the paint and finished the night with 19 points, hitting 9-10 shot for the game, while sophomore Stephanie Wagner was 7-12 from the field and 4-8 from 3-point range for 18 points … Also in double figures were junior Whitney Vannoy with 12 points, freshman Dayshalee Salaman with 11, sophomore Amberly O'Dell with 10 and senior Sarah Harrison with 10 … LMU erased a 17-point first half deficit to defeat Wingate University 93-88 in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena. LMU improves to 8-12 overall and 2-7 in the SAC. The Lady Bulldogs fall to 12-8 overall and 3-6 in the conference … Sophomore forward Stephanie Wagner (Elkhart, Ind.) led the LMU attack with 28 points, hitting five-of-eight shots from three point range. Sophomore guard Amberly Odell (Argos, Ind.) added 27 points and six assists, while hitting seven-of-10 shots from beyond the arc. Junior guard Whitney Vannoy (Harrogate, Tenn.) and freshman guard Dayshalee Salaman (Carolina, P.R.) chipped in with 14 and 11 points, respectively … As a team, LMU hit 15-of-32 shots from beyond the arc (46.9 percent). A three pointer from CC Brooks, followed by a three from sophomore guard Emily Parrish (Brevard, N.C.) gave the Lady Bulldogs a 42-25 lead with 4:30 remaining in the first half … LMU had the answer, finishing the half on a 17-6 run to cut the lead to six. Wagner started the spurt with a pair of three pointers. Vannoy added four points while O'Dell capped it with a three at the buzzer to make it 48-42 at halftime … The Lady Railsplitters used a 7-0 run to turn a four point deficit into a 58-55 lead at the 11:31 mark on a three from Wagner. Another three from Wagner with 8:34 remaining gave LMU a 69-62 lead. Five straight points from Washington sliced the lead to two at the seven minute mark. The Lady Railsplitters answered with a three point play from Wagner to push the lead back to five with 6:40 remaining … A jumper from Kurie Washington, followed by a pair of Anna Atkinson free throws tied the game at 75 with 4:42 remaining … Six LMU free throws, along with a three pointer from O'Dell sparked a 9-4 run that put Lincoln Memorial ahead by five with 2:46 to go … The lead would not go below five the rest of the way … The Lady Railsplitters shot 50.9 percent from the field on the afternoon and hit 20-of-22 free throws (90.9 percent). The Lady Bulldogs shot 48.6 percent from the field, while hitting 10-of-26 shots from three point range. Wingate held a 40-28 advantage in rebounds and a 42-20 edge in points in the paint.

MARS HILL - Tusculum blew open a tight game midway through the second half and prevailed over Mars Hill 79-70 Wednesday night inside Stanford Arena. The Lions drop to 10-9, 3-5 in the SAC … The Lions opened the game in an unconventional Triangle and Two Defense trying to slow down the league's highest scoring offense. A Bria Smith (Snellville, Ga.) three-pointer gave Mars Hill an early 5-4 lead at the 15:59 mark. The Pioneers regained the lead 8-7 on a Kat Spears (Memphis, Tenn.) layup with 14:01 left in the half … Tusculum switched to a press to try and speed up the game but Mars Hill seemed unfazed. Jessica Blanford (Concord, N.C.) nailed a three-pointer to give the Lions a 12-10 lead at the 11:28 mark. Shantae Shank (Charlotte, N.C.) responded on the next possession with a jumper that keyed a 6-0 run to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the half … Down 18-16, Brittini Young (Ramseur, N.C.) drained a deep shot from behind the arc to give the Lions the advantage with 6:43 left in the half. A Smith three-pointer gave the Lions their largest lead of the half, 24-18, at the 4:22 mark … Nikki Van Dine (Columbus, Ohio) hit a three to cut the score to 26-23 but Young responded two possessions later with a trey of her own with 1:22 left in the half. Mars Hill carried a 29-27 lead into halftime, marking the first time Tusculum had trailed all season at the midway point … The Lions opened the second half on a 5-0 run, finished off by a three from Blanford from the corner, and led 33-27 with 18:22 left in regulation … The Pioneers responded with a 23-4 run. Mars Hill went 5:05 without scoring. Tusculum gained its first double-digit lead, 50-39, off a layup by Jasmine Parker (Rex, Ga.). The Pioneers took their largest lead of the game of 16 points, 66-50, off an old-fashioned three-point play by Parker … Mars Hill cut the lead to single digits, 68-60, off a layup by Young with 1:51 left in the game but would get no closer. Tusculum finished off the game by hitting seven straight free throws … Young poured in a game-high 24 points for Mars Hill. Smith recorded 10 points. Shamia Terry (Greenville, S.C.) had seven points and 11 rebounds … Mars Hill won its 20th straight game and remained undefeated all-time against Brevard with a 73-61 victory Saturday afternoon inside Stanford Arena. The Lions improve to 11-9 overall, 4-5 in the SAC … Mars Hill opened the game running with an 8-0 scoring streak in the first 3:22. Jessica Blanford (Concord, N.C.) converted three layups, and Taylor Deal (Catawba, N.C.) pulled down four rebounds during the stretch … Brittini Young (Ramseur, N.C.) continued the Lions' hot start by drilling a three-pointer at the 13:43 mark to lift Mars Hill to a 13-4 advantage. Holli Flippo (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) nailed a trey on the next possession to cut the game to six, but Young hit a 15-footer two minutes later to give the Lions a 15-7 lead. Deal then scored five consecutive points to give Mars Hill a 20-7 advantage with 9:55 left in the half … Mars Hill grabbed its largest lead of the game, 25-9, off a jumper by Bria Smith (Snellville, Ga.), but Brevard responded with a 23-7 run. Samantha Winn (Candler, N.C.) tied the game 32-all with a layup at the 1:11 mark, but Young answered with a three on the next possession, and the Lions carried a 35-33 lead into halftime … Young had 14 first-half points for Mars Hill and was 4-6 from behind the arc. Winn scored 11 for Brevard … The Lions opened the second half in similar fashion as the first with an 8-0 run, finished off when Young found a wide open Blanford for a fastbreak layup with 15:49 left in the game to make the score 43-33 … Flippo cut the game to five points, 45-40, off a layup at the 14:45 mark, but three minutes later Mars Hill stretched the lead back to double-digits, 54-43, with a fastbreak layup by Megan Clevenger (Parrottsville, Tenn.) … The Tornados then went on a 16-8 run and cut the deficit to three, 62-59, off a free throw by Winn with 4:19 left in the second half but would not get any closer. A Young three-pointer with 57 seconds left in the game gave Mars Hill a double-digit lead, 71-61 … Young finished with a game-high 19 points for Mars Hill. Deal posted a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Blanford also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Clevenger scored 12 points with 10 of them coming in the second half … The Lions outscored the Tornados 19-2 off second chance points and 12-4 off fast break points … Mars Hill will travel to Newberry on February 4. Tip-time is set for 6 p.m.

NEWBERRY - The Newberry College women's basketball team went 1-1 on the road this past week with a win against Brevard and a loss to Carson-Newman… The team took care of business on the road Wednesday night by defeating the Brevard Tornados, 74-61… Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) led the scarlet and gray to victory with a game high 21 points, six rebounds, and two steals… Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) had a great night as well, earning a career high 20 points... She shot 8-for-13 from the field and pulled down nine rebounds… Leading Newberry in rebounds was Janine Ward (Tallevast, Fla.) with 11, tying her career high… Overall, the scarlet and gray had a solid shooting night which helped them seal their 13th victory... They shot 41 percent from field goal range, 39 percent from three-point range, and 81 percent from the free throw line... They also outrebounded the Tornados by five boards and forced 17 Brevard turnovers… The team finished the week by losing to the Carson-Newman Eagles, 68-64… Laura Marquardt (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) led her team in scoring Saturday night with 16 points... She also earned seven rebounds and three steals... Sade Coates (Meridian, Miss.) led the scarlet and gray in rebounds with 10 boards… She also scored nine points on 4-for-8 shooting… It was a poor shooting night for the scarlet and gray who only made 6-of-28 from three-point range... They shot 37.5 percent from the field overall, but only 24 percent from the team's top three scorers… This week's results put the Newberry College women's basketball team at 13-7 overall and 6-3 in the SAC... They will return home this Wednesday to play Mars Hill at 6 p.m.

TUSCULUM - The eighth-ranked Tusculum women's basketball team posted a 1-1 record last week with a 79-70 win over Mars Hill and a 77-64 loss at Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday…Tusculum enters February with a 17-3 overall record, having won 14 of its last 16 games…The Pioneers came from behind to defeat Mars Hill on Wednesday, utilizing a 22-6 run in the second half to overcome a 29-27 halftime deficit…South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week Stephany Neptune notched her fifth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Pioneers in both categories…Jasmine Parker tied a career high with 17 points, while Kat Spears and Shantae Shank contributed 11 and 10 markers, respectively…Tusculum fell to Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday as L-R's Jami Safrit secured SAC Player of the Week honors with 22 points against the Pioneers…Ashli Oliver paced the black and orange with 15 points on four triples to move into a tie for fifth on the NCAA Division II all-time three-pointers list…Neptune chipped in 13 points to mark her seventh consecutive game in double figures, and reached a personal milestone with her 900th point… She also hauled down a game-high eight rebounds to extend her streak of five or more boards to 55 straight contests…The 5-9 junior also moved within four blocks of the all-time record at TC, currently sitting at 121 career rejections…Jasmine Gunn ended the night with 11 points and a game-high seven assists…Tusculum has posted a field goal percentage of at least 43 percent in each of its last 13 games, entering the week leading the nation with a 48.9 percent clip from the floor this season…The Pioneers are a perfect 9-0 on their home floor this season, having won their last 19 games in Pioneer Arena dating back to the spring of 2007…Tusculum is 11-1 this year when blocking five or more shots, and are a perfect 11-0 when holding its opponents to less than 70 points…The Pioneers are averaging a SAC-best 84.8 points per game while outscoring their opponents by 19.6 markers per contest to lead the conference…Tusculum is at home for a pair of conference matchups this week, hosting Lincoln Memorial at 6 p.m. on Wednesday before Catawba comes to Pioneer Arena for a 2 p.m. tilt on Saturday.

WINGATE - The Wingate University women's basketball team dropped a pair of tough conference games last week. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs dropped an 84-75 contest at Lenoir-Rhyne, the number one team in the Southeast Region. Freshman guard Kurie Washington led the Wingate attack with 22 points on seven-of-12 shooting from the field. She also hit eight-of-nine shots from the free throw line. Sophomore guard CC Brooks added 14 points for the Bulldogs … On Saturday, the Bulldogs built a 17-point first half lead over Lincoln Memorial, but the Railsplitters rallied to take a 93-88 decision in Cuddy Arena. Washington led the way again, scoring 19 of her team-high 24 points in the second half. Brooks added 17 points while going eight-of-11 from the free throw line. Senior guard Anna Atkinson contributed 14 points and eight assists … Atkinson leads the SAC in assists, steals and assist-to-turnover ratio. She leads the team and ranks second in the league with 15.6 points per game. Nationally, her 6.9 assists per game and 3.23-to-1 assists-to-turnover ratio rank second. In the SAC history books, Atkinson is second in career assists with 727 and third with 329 steals. She needs 92 assists to tie the all-time record. Atkinson is eight steals shy of second place in the steals category; she needs 24 more to become the all-time leader … Washington is second on the team with 13.3 points per game, while shooting 47 percent from the field and 79.6 percent from the free throw line. The Bulldogs have eight players averaging at least 4.0 points per game. Junior center Stacie Rhodes leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game and has registered a team-high 20 blocks … Wingate travels to Catawba College Wednesday for a 6 p.m. start. The Catawba Indians won the first meeting 76-67 in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldogs have the weekend free; they host number 11 Tusculum College Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. … The Wingate University women's basketball team has partnered with over 700-plus other schools around the country to participate in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) 2009 "Think Pink" initiative. Special events will take place on Saturday, Feb. 21 when the Bulldogs host Newberry College at 2 p.m. in Cuddy Arena … The WBCA's "Think Pink" program is a global, unified effort for the WBCA's nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. The week of February 13-22 has been set aside for the 2009 initiative.