Catawba and Wingate Share SAC Women's Basketball Regular Season Crown
February 28, 2004

Courtesy Catawba College, Wingate Unviersity Sports Information Offices

Catawba Shares SAC Women's Basketball Regular Season Crown

Wingate Clinches Share of SAC Women's Regular Season Title With Win Over Tusculum

Catawba Shares SAC Women's Basketball Regular Season Crown

JEFFERSON CITY, TN -- Catawba College earned a share of the South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball championship with a 77-68 victory over host Carson-Newman at Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday night. Junior Ashley Cox (Richmond, VA) scored all 16 of her points in the final half, including a pair of late three-pointers, to help the Lady Indians repeat as league champions and earn a third title in four years.

Catawba improves to 19-8 overall and 11-3 in the SAC and will be the top-seed in next week’s tournament. Carson-Newman falls to 10-17 and 5-9.

Catawba built a 52-38 lead with 14:54 remaining, but with leading scorer Danyel Locklear (Pembroke, NC) on the bench with foul trouble the Lady Eagles trimmed the margin to 60-59 with 4:52 left on a layup by Andrea Fitzgerald (Memphis, TN). Cox would step up and connect on a key three- pointer to push the lead to 63-59 on Catawba’s next possession. She added another three-pointer after a pair of Lady Eagle free throws for a 66-61 edge at the 3:35 mark.

A three-point play by Fitzgerald with 2:06 remaining brought CN within 70-66, but Aisha Stewart (Topeka, KS), Tamekia Foster (Chesapeake, VA) and Isiaette Darden (Wilson, NC) scored three straight hoops for a 76-66 Catawba lead. Each team shot 45% and CN held a slight 37-36 edge on the boards. Catawba would out-score the Lady Eagles 16-5 at the line and benefited from 18 CN turnovers, gaining a 21-4 scoring edge off miscues.

The Lady Indians led virtually the entire way, building a 23-11 lead in the opening half. Carson-Newman would respond to every Catawba spurt and pulled within 23-17 after six straight points. The Lady Indians went up 34-23 just before the half, but a three-pointer by Fitzgerald cut the margin to 34-26 at the break.

Locklear paced Catawba with 22 points and added eight rebounds. Cox added nine assists to her 16 points, while Stewart posted 15 points and seven boards.

Fitzgerald had 18 points and five assists to lead CN, while Stacie Dunn (Newport, TN) had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Tiffany Parker (Newnan, GA) had 16 points and Amy Cate (Strawberry Plains, TN) pulled down 10 rebounds.

Wingate Clinches Share of SAC Women's Regular Season Title With Win Over Tusculum

Wingate, N.C.----On senior day, Wingate University senior Samantha Dailey (Huntington, W.Va.) tied her season-high with 24 points and pulled down six rebounds as the Bulldogs clinched at least a share of the South Atlantic Conference regular season championship with a 81-72 win over Tusculum College Saturday afternoon at Cuddy Arena on the Wingate campus.

Wingate is 19-9 overall and 11-3 in the SAC. Tusculum is 11-16 overall and 5-9 in the SAC. Both Catawba College and Lenoir-Rhyne College can share the title with Wingate with victories tonight. Catawba plays at Carson-Newman College, while Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Mars Hill College. Both games began at 6 p.m. tonight.

Dailey was one of three Bulldogs in double figures on the afternoon. Sophomore center Veronica Taylor (Columbia, S.C.) had yet another solid performance as she scored 19 points and pulled down six rebounds. Freshman guard Tanetra Barrett (Marshville, N.C.) contributed 14 points and five rebounds in the game.

For Tusculum, junior guard Julie Maples led the Pioneers with 18 points and seven rebounds. Pioneer sophomore forward Amber Redding contributed 14 points with nine rebounds. TC sophomore forward Kelley Karns added 12 points and nine rebounds. Pioneer junior forward Kathryn Whartenby came off the bench to score 11 points for TC.

The Bulldogs controlled most of the game as they led by as many as 15 in the first half. Wingate gained their largest lead of the game at the 11:08 mark of the second half as freshman guard Petra Nagy hit a basket to put the Bulldogs up 62-45. The Bulldogs outshot the visiting Pioneers from the field 51.8 percent to 34.7 percent on the afternoon.

The Bulldogs and the Pioneers will both see action on Friday in the first round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference in Hickory, N.C. Pairings and brackets will be released on Monday.