Women’s Basketball Notes, January 10, 2011

Women's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending January 9, 2011:

ANDERSON - The Trojans suffered two home setbacks this past week, falling, 66-61, to Lenoir-Rhyne and 71-67 to league-leading Catawba … The Indians' turned back AU's upset bid with a late 16-4 run that was capped by a rare four-point play from Catawba senior guard Milicia Ivanovic with 1:31 left in the contest … Anderson came out of a one-point halftime advantage and steadily built the first of three nine-point leads with 12:06 on the clock and claimed its largest lead of the game, at 63-53, at the 6:44 mark. Alissa Diaz and Alexa Neal shared team-high scoring honors for the Trojans, each with 11 points, while Amanda Parris, Maci Siniard and Shannon tallied 10 points apiece … Earlier in the week, the Bears held off the Trojans with a late surge, scoring the last seven points of the contest to claim the victory. After sophomore guard Alissa Diaz gave the Trojans a brief 61-60 lead with a runner in the lane with 1:33 left in the contest … Lenoir-Rhyne's Whiltley Culler answered with a driving layup to give the Bears' a 62-61 edge … Sophomore guard Alissa Diaz led Anderson with her 14.0 points per game average on the week, while sophomore forward Breonda Shannon averaged 7.5 rebounds over the two-game span … AU closes out its three-game homestand by playing host to Newberry on Wednesday.

BREVARD - The Brevard College women's basketball team went 1-1 last week after splitting two South Atlantic Conference games at Boshamer Gymnasium ... The Tornados were able to pick up their first South Atlantic Conference victory on Wednesday night when they defeated the Carson-Newman Eagles 81-68 at Boshamer Gymnasium ... Five Tornados were in double-figures in the win ... Anna Scholobohm led Brevard with 18 points in the win. She was 7-of-10 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point land. She also dished out three assists and pulled down three rebounds in the win. Four other Tornados were in double-digits as Lindsay Brendle followed up with 17 points of her own. She was 6-for-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Micheala Watkins had 16 points, seven assists and two steals in the victory. Brianna Worley and Holli Flippo each contributed with 10 points a piece. Flippo and Whitaker led Brevard with six rebounds each ... Brevard lost a nail-biter on Saturday when they fell 74-72 to the Mars Hill Lions at Boshamer Gymnasium. Despite trailing as many as 20, the Tornados rallied but fell short by just two ... Micheala Watkins led the way offensively for Brevard with 16 points in the loss, as well as dishing out a team-high five assists. The Tornados had three others in double-digits as Anna Schlobohm dropped 15, while Amanda Whitaker had 12 and three assists. Holli Flippo scored 11 against the Lions … Despite fouling out, Whitaker was a force defensively. She set a Brevard College record for blocked shots in a game with seven in the loss. She also was able to garner three steals and seven rebounds in the game. Flippo was able to pull-down seven boards, as well as three steals ... The Tornados take the court for two South Atlantic Conference games this week as they first travel to Salisbury, North Carolina to take on the Catawba Indians on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and follow that up by hosting Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. from Boshamer Gymnasium.

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles dropped an 81-68 decision at Brevard College in their only contest of the week ... The Tornados shot 53.7 percent from the floor and knocked down 10 3-pointers on their way to the win ... Brevard held a 39-31 lead at the half and pushed its lead to as many as 19 points in the second half ... The Lady Eagles were unable to trim the Tornados' lead below 11 points the rest of the way ... Senior guard Mandy Mendenhall paced C-N with 22 points, while freshman forward Shannon Depew chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds ... The Lady Eagles are 5-8 on the season and 1-2 in conference play...C-N returns to action on Wednesday as it hosts rival Tusculum College ... Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Holt Fieldhouse..

CATAWBA - Catawba's women continue to pull out games in the final minutes ... The Lady Indians claimed a 58-56 home win over Wingate and took a 71-67 decision at Anderson to stay unbeaten in the league ... Against the Bulldogs, Catawba trailed for most of the game then rallied from an eight-point deficit it the final 11 minutes ... Mima Ivanovic shook off a cold start (missing her first 10 shots) and hit a trio of three-pointers in the final six minutes to spark Catawba ... Her first capped a 14-4 run to give the Lady Indians a 46-44 lead with 5:35 remaining ... The last, with 23 seconds left, proved to the be the winner and giving Catawba a 58-54 edge ... Ivanovic scored all 14 of her points in the second half ... Dana Hicks added 12 points and 10 rebounds ... Ivanovic led a Catawba comeback again at Anderson, scoring a season-high 26 points and canning six three-pointers ... Her back-to-back three's in the final two minutes gave the ladies the lead ... She converted the second into a four-point play for a 69-67 lead with 1:31 to play ... Catawba held Anderson to just four points over the last six and half minutes to rally from a 10-point deficit ... Hicks collected her 12th double-double of the year, adding 18 points and 10 rebounds ... Hicks is averaging 18.9 points and 10.9 rebounds a game ... She is shooting 78 percent (80-of-102) at the line ... Ivanovic is tossing in 15.8 points and grabbing 6.6 boards a contest ... The Lady Indians are shooting just 40 percent from the field, but 73 percent at the line ... Catawba will put its undefeated league slate on the line Wednesday as it hosts Brevard ... Tusculum will travel to Goodman Gym on Saturday afternoon.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University women's basketball team (5-6, 2-1) picked up a key South Atlantic Conference road win over Anderson University, 66-61, last Wednesday at the Abney Athletic Center in Anderson, S.C. … Junior guard Cameron Sealey (Mount Holly, N.C.) led all scorers with 20 points including 16 in the first half while freshman forward Whitney Brinkley (Asheville, N.C.) added 15 points to lead the Bears to the win … Sophomore guard Whitley Culler (Mount Airy, N.C.) hit the game-winning field goal with 43 seconds left and L-R hit four free throws in the final 22 seconds to preserve the victory for the Bears … The Trojans' Alissa Diaz came off the bench to score 17 points in the losing effort … L-R's home contest with SAC-foe Carson-Newman last Saturday was postponed due to winter weather and will be made up at a later date … Sealey, Lenoir-Rhyne's leading scorer (19.5 ppg), is just 226 points away from becoming the 17th player to cross the 1,000-point mark for her Bear career … Lenoir-Rhyne remains on the road this week when it travels to Wingate (Wednesday at 6 p.m.) and Brevard (Saturday at 2 p.m.) to play a couple of South Atlantic Conference contests … Wingate leads the all-time series with Lenoir-Rhyne, 49-10, while L-R holds a 9-0 advantage over Brevard … The Bears split their season series with the Bulldogs while winning all three contests against the Tornados last year … Lenoir-Rhyne will have played half its league contests (five) on the road before playing its first SAC Regular Season game at home this year … L-R will make up its game with Carson-Newman at home on Monday, January 17, at 2 p.m.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - LMU dropped two SAC games this week … On Wednesday they fell at Tusculum 71-58 … Free throws were the difference as Tusculum went 30-48 and LMU went 16-23 … Patrice Talley and Dayshalee Salaman shared the team lead and matched Gunn for the game high in scoring with 18 points apiece for the Lady Railsplitters … On Saturday the Lady Railsplitters clawed their way back from a double-digit deficit late in the game, but it was not enough as they fell to Newberry 65-61 … LMU (5-7, 0-4 SAC) was led by Whitney Holmes with 15 points … Dayshalee Salaman and Patrice Talley each added in 12 points. Kendra Holmes had a game-high 11 rebounds … The Wolves scored led by ten with 7:41 to play, but a three-pointer by Whitney Holmes helped spark a 15-5 LMU run … LMU trailed by one with 17 seconds to go when Newberry's Helen McKinney hit a trey to seal the win for Newberry … LMU hosts Mars Hill on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.

MARS HILL - Mars Hill defeated Newberry and Brevard on the road last week to improve to 10-2 overall, 3-1 in the SAC … The Lions defeated the Wolves 70-68 and the Tornados 74-72 … Brittini Young averaged 17 points per game. Taylor Deal averaged a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds … Mars Hill will travel to Lincoln Memorial on January 12 and host Wingate on January 15.

NEWBERRY - Newberry College moved to 7-5 overall and 2-2 in the SAC with a split of its games last week … On Wednesday, the Wolves led for the majority of the game, but missed out on three shots to tie in the final 28 seconds as Mars Hill escaped with a 70-68 win … Helen McKinney led the way for Newberry with 21 points, while Briana Johnson scored a season high 15 points … Leeara Creet scored 12 points with 8 rebounds and 4 assists … On Saturday, the Wolves rebounded from the loss with a 65-61 win over Lincoln Memorial … McKinney moved to 10th all-time in scoring in Newberry history, scoring 21 points for her fourth straight 20-plus game … Johnson scored 10 in the game, while Jessica Bearzatto dished out 11 assists … Newberry returns to the road this week in an attempt to break over .500 in SAC play at Anderson on Wednesday and Carson-Newman on Saturday.

TUSCULUM - The Pioneers split their two contests last week, defeating Lincoln Memorial 71-58 at Pioneer Arena Wednesday night and falling 69-63 at Wingate Sunday afternoon, leveling their record at 6-6 overall and 2-2 in the SAC. It is the fifth time that Tusculum has been at the .500 mark this year (0-0, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6) ... Senior guard Jasmine Gunn (Nashville, Tenn.) paced the Pioneers against LMU with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals, while sophomore guard Kendal Baxter (Sevierville, Tenn.) came off the bench to tally a season-high 14 points. The Pioneers went 30-for-43 from the foul line in the win ... Against Wingate, the Pioneers led by two at halftime before the Bulldogs broke the 11th and final tie of the game with 1:37 to play. Gunn led all players with 20 points and eight rebounds, and senior center Catherine Hintz (Hastings, Minn.) came off the bench to add 11 points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes of action ... Gunn has moved into second place on the Tusculum career scoring list with 1,851 points, also passing Danyel Locklear of Catawba (2000-04) for seventh place all-time in the SAC ... Over the last five games, Hintz has averaged 9.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in just 17 minutes per game off the bench ... Three Pioneers are approaching 500 career points - Hintz (six points away), junior forward Staci Hicks (12 points) and Baxter (15 points) ... The Pioneers are on the road twice this week, playing Wednesday at Carson-Newman and Saturday at Catawba.

WINGATE - Wingate University junior guard Kurie Washington and sophomore guard Sarah Wollett had 18 points each, leading the Bulldogs past the Pioneers of Tusculum College 69-63 in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Sunday afternoon in Cuddy Arena ... Washington was a perfect five-for-five from the field on the afternoon, while also converting eight-of-eight free throws. Wollett knocked down three-of-five shots from three-point range, while also collecting five rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Simone Rutledge added eight points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs ... The Bulldogs responded by scoring the last six points of the opening frame Sunday. The spurt cut the Wingate halftime deficit to 26-24. Junior guard Tiffany Brown (Cartersville, Ga.) got it started with a steal and a lay-up, while Wollett scored the final four points of the spurt with a lay-up and a jumper ... The Pioneers pushed the lead back to six early in the second stanza. A Wollett triple sliced the lead to one a minute later. Tusculum pushed its advantage to 40-35 with 12 minutes to go. The Bulldogs had the answer, scoring the next eight points to take their first lead of the game. Wollett got it started with a triple, while junior guard CC Brooks tied it with a jumper. Washington capped the spurt with a jumper to make it 43-40 at the midway point of the second half ... The Bulldogs maintained their lead, pushing it to five on a Washington lay-up with 5:11 remaining. The Pioneers tied the game with a three at the 4:21 mark. Tusculum regained the lead with a free throw 25 seconds later. A pair of Washington free throws gave the Bulldogs the edge at the 3:43 mark. Tusculum answered a Washington jumper with an inside hoop to tie it at 56 with 2:29 to go ... Wollett knocked down a huge three with two minutes remaining to make it 59-56. The Pioneers answered with a three-point play to tie it at the 1:53 mark. Wingate took the lead for good on a free throw from Rutledge, while a jumper from Washington at the 1:11 mark pushed the lead to three. Wollett added two free throws to give Wingate a 64-59 lead with 56 seconds to go. Washington added four more free throws in the final 25 seconds to secure the win for the Bulldogs ... Wingate shot 41.4 percent from the field, while hitting four-of-11 shots from three-point range (36.4 percent). Tusculum shot only 33.3 percent from the field and hit three-of-14 shots from beyond the arc (21.4 percent). Wingate held a 41-35 rebounding advantage, while the Bulldog bench outscored Tusculum's reserves 33-23. The two teams were even in points in the paint (32-32) and second chance points (13-13) ... On Wednesday, The Catawba College Indians rallied for a 58-56 victory over the visiting Bulldogs of Wingate University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action in Goodman Gymnasium ... Wingate's last three losses have been by a total of seven points, including a one-point overtime loss to Georgia College in the team's final game of 2010. Freshman guard Janitsha Williams led the Bulldogs with 13 points, knocking down three-of-five shots from three-point range. Sophomore forward Tish Logan scored all eight of her points in the first half, while Washington added seven points ... The Bulldogs are 31-9 overall in Cuddy Arena during head coach Barbara Nelson's four-year tenure. USA Basketball named Nelson the 2010 USA Basketball Co-Developmental Coach of the Year in December. She is 502-213 in 25 years as a head basketball coach ... Washington is eighth in the SAC with her 15.8 points per game average. Rutledge is 16th in scoring (11.3), 10th in rebounding (6.4 rebounds per game) and fourth in field goal percentage (52.5). The Bulldogs are 4-0 in Cuddy this season, with Lenoir-Rhyne University coming to town Wednesday night for a 6 p.m. contest.