Women’s Basketball Notes, January 24, 2011
Women's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending January 23, 2011
ANDERSON - The Trojans dropped a 76-52 decision on the road at Tusculum last Wednesday night but bounced back to earn a 78-69 home win past Carson-Newman Saturday at the Abney Center … Tusculum used a first-half scoring outburst to claim a double digit lead and the Trojans were unable to get any closer than 13 points the rest of the contest … Senior forward Ashley Abed led the Trojans with 17 points and shared team-high rebounding honors with Tilde Ahlin, as each pulled down five boards versus the Pioneers … Anderson tallied its highest offensive output of the season en route to snapping a seven-game skid with the win past Carson-Newman … Abed led all scorers with 19 points, while three other Trojans also reached double figures … The 5-foot-10 senior averaged a team-high 18 points, while garnering 11 rebounds on the week … The Trojans close out the homestand by playing host to Wingate on Wednesday before visiting Brevard on Saturday.
BREVARD - The Brevard College women's basketball team went 0-2 in South Atlantic Conference play this week falling to 5-13 on the season and 1-7 in SAC play ... First the Tornados traveled to Lincoln Memorial University on Wednesday and fell 66-54 ... Anna Schlobohm led all-scorers in the game by dropping a career high 20 points in the loss ... Lindsay Brendle was able to drop 13 points of her own at Tex Turner Arena. Brendle led the Tornados on the boards by pulling down seven rebounds in the loss ... On Saturday Brevard fell by 20, 79-59, in a road game at Wingate University ... The Tornados had three players in double-figures as Anna Schlobohm led the offense with 18 points in the loss, while Lindsay Brendle added 14 points and Amber Roberts contributed 11 points off the bench. Brendle also led Brevard in rebounds with five boards ... The Tornados have two home games this week as they first play host to the Newberry Wolves on Wednesday, January 26th at 6 p.m. ... Following the Wednesday game, Anderson University will come to Boshamer Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday, January 29th.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles went 0-2 on the week, dropping a pair of road games at Mars Hill and Anderson ... With the losses, the Lady Eagles fall to 6-12 overall and 2-6 in the conference ... C-N opened the week with an 84-77 loss at Mars Hill on Wednesday despite a career-high 29 points from senior guard Mandy Mendenhall ... Mendenhall's career-high pushed her past 1,000 points for her career ... She sank a jumper at the 9:33 mark of the first half to reach eight points on the night, giving her 1,001 points for her Lady Eagle career ... C-N outshot Mars Hill 44 percent to 37.9 percent, but the Lions knocked down 11-of-24 3-point attempts and turned 22 Lady Eagle turnovers into 26 points ... Mendenhall went 11-of-22 from the floor, including four 3-pointers, and dished out five assists to lead the Lady Eagles … Junior forward Zoriah Williams produced her third straight double-double for C-N with 17 points and 11 rebounds ... After trailing 41-27 with 4:25 left in the first half, the Lady Eagles stormed back with a 16-4 run to trim the Lions' lead to 45-43 on a 3-point play by Williams with 43 seconds left ... Mars Hill took a 48-44 lead into the locker room ... C-N came out on fire in the second half, opening with an 11-2 run capped off by a Whitney Moody layup that gave the Lady Eagles a 55-50 lead with 15:40 left ... But Mars Hill outscored C-N 23-6 over the next seven minutes to take a 73-61 lead ... The Lady Eagles made one last push to cut the Lions' lead down to 79-77 on a pair of made free throws by Mendenhall at the 1:11 mark, but Taylor Deal made a layup at the other end to seal the win for the Lions ... C-N wrapped up the week with a 78-69 loss at Anderson ... The Lady Eagles shot just 35 percent (21-of-60) from the floor, while Anderson scored at a 53.8 percent clip (28-of-52) en route to the win ... Senior Katlin Moore, Williams and sophomore Courdne Miles tossed in 14 points apiece to lead the Lady Eagles, while Mendenhall added 11 points ... Williams also finished the day with 10 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season ... The Lady Eagles got off to a strong, building an 8-4 lead after a 3-pointer by Mendenhall, but the Trojans went on a 7-0 run to take an 11-8 lead at the 15:24 mark ... The teams then played through three ties and two lead changes before the Trojans gained a 27-24 lead … C-N scored the only other basket during the final four minutes, a layup by Williams at the 2:53 mark to trim Anderson's lead to 27-26 heading into the locker room ... C-N opened the second half on a 9-2 run capped off by a floater in the paint by Williams to give the Lady Eagles a 35-29 lead ... But Anderson outscored the Lady Eagles 34-13 during the next 11 minutes to take its largest lead of the game at 63-48 with 5:51 remaining ... C-N was unable to pull closer than seven points the rest of the way ... The Lady Eagles return to action at home on Wednesday in a SAC matchup with Lincoln Memorial ... Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Holt Fieldhouse.
CATAWBA - The Catawba women suffered a pair of road losses last week to extend a losing streak to three games ... The ladies came up short in a rally at Lenoir-Rhyne in falling 60-55 on Wednesday and dropped a 78-73 decision in overtime at Newberry on Saturday ... The ladies trailed at L-R by 14 with five minutes to play then stormed back to within three at the two minute mark ... The Bears did enough to hold off Catawba ... The Lady Indians scored just five points over the last ten minutes of the first half ... Dana Hicks scored 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in the loss ... The junior followed with another double-double, her 15th of the season, with 13 points and 11 rebounds at Newberry ... Milica Ivanovic tied her career high at Newberry with 28 points ... The Lady Indians led by five in the closing minutes, but Newberry rallied ... The Wolves forced overtime on a three-point play with eight seconds remaining ... The game featured 13 ties and 13 lead changes ... Hicks is leading Catawba, scoring 17.8 points and grabbing 11.6 rebounds a game ... Ivanovic is scoring at a 16.6 clip, while Elizabeth Merritt is averaging 7.3 boards a contest ... Catawba closes out the first half of league play on Wednesday as it hosts Mars Hill ... The Lady Indians travel to Carson-Newman on Saturday.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University women's basketball team (8-8, 5-3) won two of three home games last week against South Atlantic Conference foes … L-R lost to Carson-Newman on Monday by a 70-61 before defeating Catawba (60-55) and Lincoln Memorial (74-73 in overtime) on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively … The Lady Eagles' Mandy Mendenhall tied a career-high with 28 points and Zoriah Williams added 19 points and 16 rebounds as Carson-Newman snapped Lenoir-Rhyne's 16-game home league regular season winning streak … Freshman forward Caroline Laughter (Asheville, N.C.) led the Bears with 16 points but L-R shot just 33 percent (22-for-67) in the loss … Junior guard Cameron Sealey (Mount Holly, N.C.) and sophomore forward Precious Elkins (Conyers, Ga.) added 13 points each despite the loss … Lenoir-Rhyne defeated Catawba for the seventh straight time behind a game-high 17 points from Sealey … The Indians' Dana Hicks tallied a double-double (15 points and 17 rebounds) but Catawba shot just 38 percent (23-for-61) for the game … Freshman forward Whitney Brinkley (Asheville, N.C.) hit a field goal as time ran out in overtime to lift the Bears to the victory over the Railsplitters … Sealey (a game-high 20 points) hit a field goal as time expired in the second half to force overtime tied at 66 … Brinkley and freshman forward Alexis Katt (Euharlee, Ga.) scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Bears … Sealey is just 138 points away from becoming the 17th player in school history to score a 1,000 points in her career … Lenoir-Rhyne travels to Greeneville, Tenn., to take on first-place Tusculum Wednesday at 6 p.m. … L-R leads the all-time series with Tusculum, 16-10 … Lenoir-Rhyne ends the week when it hosts Mars Hill Saturday at 4 p.m. … The Lions edged the Bears in overtime, 87-79, on Saturday, December 4, in Mars Hill, N.C., and leads the all-time series with the Bears, 34-33.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL - The Lincoln Memorial women's basketball team picked up the 66-54 victory over Brevard Wednesday evening … Off the opening tip, Dayshalee Salaman scored a quick layup to give the Lady Railsplitters a 2-0 lead, establishing a lead which LMU would never drop … LMU's halftime lead was 34-32 … With nine minutes remaining in the game, Brevard cut the score to 48-47. However, LMU concluded the game with a 18-7 run, winning 66-54 … The Lady Railsplitters were led in scoring by Patrice Talley and Salaman, who each notched 15 points … Melanie Hemphill also provided a strong performance, giving LMU 10 points … Talley also led Lincoln Memorial in rebounding, recording 9 rebounds … A shot at the buzzer at the end of overtime helped Lenoir-Rhyne escape the Lady Railsplitters 74-73 Saturday evening … LMU falls to 8-8, 3-5 in the SAC with the loss … LMU led comfortably several times during regulation, but each time the Bears managed to claw their way back into the game … Carrie Ann Harris was open on the perimeter and she buried a three-pointer to put LMU up 66-63 with 26 seconds to go … L-R missed a three-pointer of their own and immediately fouled once LMU grabbed the rebound. Both free throws were missed and the Bears' Cameron Sealy hit a jumper as time expired to send the game to overtime … LMU pulled out to the 73-70 lead and L-R missed four easy chances before Alexis Katt cut the lead to one, 73-72, with 1:29 remaining … L-Rs Whitley Cutler managed to tie up an LMU rebound with the possession arrow going L-Rs way on L-Rs end of the floor … They inbounded the ball to Whitney Brinkley, whose lay-up fell in as time expired, giving the Bears the win … LMU was led in the loss by Craig's 15 points. Patrice Talley and Dayshalee Salaman each scored 12 and Williams added in ten points. Whitney Holmes led LMU on the boards with nine.LMU will travel across Clinch Mountain to face arch-rival Carson-Newman Wednesday at 6 p.m. Those wishing to catch all the action online can find links to live stats, a live blog, radio and other multimedia at LMURailsplitters.com.
MARS HILL - Mars Hill went 1-1 during the previous week of play with an 84-77 win over Carson-Newman and 59-53 loss at Tusculum … The Lions are now 12-4 overall, 5-3 in the SAC … Brittini Young averaged 20.5 points per game last week. Taylor Deal averaged 10 points in the two games to round out the double digit scoring average … Mars Hill, which is tied for second place in the conference, will travel to Catawba and Lenoir-Rhyne during this week to conclude a three-game road swing.
NEWBERRY - The Newberry Wolves split a pair of home games last week to move to 10-6 overall and 5-3 in SAC play … On Wednesday, the Wolves could not overcome a cold first half in a 76-61 loss to Wingate … Wingate led 40-17 at the half after Newberry shot just 17.6 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes … After the lackluster first half the Wolves came out and scored 44 points in the second while holding the Bulldogs to just 36, but it was too little too late as the scarlet and gray were handed their worst loss of the season … Helen McKinney was Newberry's leading scorer with her second straight double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds … Briana Johnson scored 14 points and junior guard Keisha Henderson was solid with three assists and three steals while drawing four charges, three of which came in the span of less than a minute … On Saturday, Newberry rebounded with a 78-73 overtime win over Catawba … The Wolves were down by three with 18 seconds to play, but Leanne Watson converted a three-point play to send the game to the extra frame … In the first half it was all Indians as the scarlet and gray dug themselves into a nine point hole early in the half … A 14-2 run by Newberry capped off by a McKinney three pointer at the 7:02 mark gave the Wolves their first lead of the game … Newberry ended the half with a two point lead, 41-39 … Jessica Bearzatto was the leading scorer for the Wolves during the contest with her season high 19 points, six of which came in the overtime period alone ... The senior also had five rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots ... McKinney was right behind with her 16 points and 11 rebounds for her third straight double-double ... Watson had 14 points and five rebounds while Leeara Creet had eight points and 11 rebounds ... The Wolves start a four-game road trip this week, with a Wednesday game at Brevard and a Saturday game at Tusculum … On Saturday, Feb. 5, the Wolves will be featured on national television in their game at Lenoir-Rhyne, marking the first appearance on national TV by a Newberry team in any sport.
TUSCULUM - The Pioneers extended their winning streak to a season-high four straight games with wins over Anderson (76-52) and Mars Hill (59-53) and took over sole possession of first place in the SAC at 6-2 (10-6 overall) ... The Pioneers shot a season-best 57.7 percent from the field in the win over Anderson, as senior guard Jasmine Gunn (Nashville, Tenn.) scored a game-high 21 points and dished out eight assists … Senior center Catherine Hintz (Hastings, Minn.) had another strong night off the Tusculum bench, scoring a season-high 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting … As a team, the Pioneers went 30-for-52 from the field and had a 34-24 advantage in rebounding ... Against Mars Hill, the Pioneers saw an 11-point lead evaporate into a 53-53 tie, but Hintz hit the go-ahead free throw with 1:06 left, blocked a potential go-ahead jumper, and scored on a putback with 27.9 seconds to go to help the Pioneers to the victory. Hintz had 10 points and a season-high 13 rebounds in the victory, while Gunn led all players with 16 points … The Pioneers committed 22 turnovers, but outrebounded the Lions 45-34 in the contest ... Tusculum has held four straight opponents under 60 points, and has scored 70 or more points in seven of the last nine games ... Gunn is 73 points shy of becoming the second Pioneer and fifth player in SAC history to score 2,000 career points ... Tusculum is 5-0 at home and has won eight straight home games dating to last season ... The Pioneers' six-point win over Mars Hill was its first victory by fewer than 10 points this season ... The Pioneers close out a four-game home stand by hosting Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and Newberry on Saturday at 2 p.m.
WINGATE - The Wingate University women's basketball team opened the game with a 32-2 run en route to a 79-59 win over the Tornados of Brevard College in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldogs are 10-6 overall and 5-3 in the SAC. Wingate is only one game out of first place entering a crucial week with league road games at Anderson (Wednesday) and Lincoln Memorial (Saturday) … With the Brevard victory, the Bulldogs improve to 6-0 overall at home this season. Wingate is 32-9 overall in Cuddy Arena during head coach Barbara Nelson's four-year tenure. Nelson is 505-214 in 25 years as a head basketball coach (college and high school) … On Saturday against Brevard, junior forward Simone Rutledge had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Wingate attack. Sophomore forward Tish Logan added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulldogs, while junior guard/forward Kurie Washington contributed 12 points … Seven different players hit the scoring column during the 32-2 opening flurry. Logan had seven points, while junior guard Tiffany Brown nailed two huge three-point field goals. Rutledge and Washington had five points each in the run … Wingate shot 48.1 percent in the first half (13-of-27), while Brevard converted only 18.5 percent (five-of-27) in the opening frame. The Bulldogs led 42-16 at intermission … Brevard cut its deficit to 57-39 with 10:35 remaining in the contest. The Tornados would get no closer down the stretch, despite the fact they hit 50 percent (15-of-30) of their second stanza field goals … The Bulldogs kept the Tornados out of the paint, outscoring the visitors 24-10 in the lane. Wingate converted 24 second-chance points, compared to only eight for Brevard. The hosts dominated the boards, winning the rebounding battle 54-22. Each of Wingate's 11 players recorded at least one rebound. Rutledge (13) and Logan (12) outrebounded Brevard (22) by themselves … Wingate had four players score in double figures, while leading wire-to-wire in a 76-61 win at Newberry College Wednesday night in SAC action. Washington led the Bulldogs with 14 points. Wingate freshman guard Janitsha Williams added 11 points and six rebounds. Sophomore guard Sarah Wollett had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Rutledge had 11 points and five rebounds. Tiffany Brown had six points and a game-high five assists for the Bulldogs … The Bulldogs came out hot, taking a 12-2 lead seven minutes into the game. Wollett and Williams had four points each in the opening spurt. Wingate continued to build on its lead, using a 10-0 run to take a 36-14 advantage at the 2:28 mark. Five different Bulldogs scored in the flurry, while Brown assisted on three of the buckets. A pair of free throws from Washington 29 seconds before halftime gave the 'Dogs a 40-17 advantage heading to intermission … The Wolves scored the first seven points of the second half, cutting the deficit to 16 on a three-point play from McKinney. The Bulldogs answered with a 12-4 run to take a 52-28 lead at the 14:34 mark. Freshman forward Shey Brown capped the spurt by scoring the last five points … A lay-up from Williams with 11:02 remaining gave Wingate its largest lead of the night at 58-32. Newberry cut the deficit to 15 at the 4:19 mark, but a jumper from Wollett and a pair of free throws from Williams pushed the advantage back to 18 with 1:54 to go … Wingate leads the SAC in free throw percentage (75.5 percent) and field goal percentage defense (36.6 percent allowed). The Bulldogs are getting it done on the offensive end of the floor, as Wingate is second in the league in scoring offense (72.1 points per game) … Washington leads the Bulldogs with her 15.1 points per game average. The McDowell High School product is ninth on the SAC scoring charts … Rutledge is 13th in the SAC in scoring with her 11.7 points per game average. Wingate's top rebounder and shooter, Rutledge is fifth in the SAC in field goal percentage (49.3) and seventh in the rebounding category (7.1 rebounds per game).