Game recaps and notes from around the South Atlantic Conference:

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles found the final weeks of 2005 to be difficult ones as they dropped all four games they played over the Christmas break ... In a 66-58 loss to Fayetteville State, the Lady Eagles committed 33 turnovers and saw the Lady Broncos score 30 points off those miscues. C-N out-rebounded FSU 46-42 and forced 26 turnovers, but poor shooting (33.3 percent) was the downfall for the Lady Eagles ... Amanda Ray scored 21 points and had 17 rebounds and Nicole Avrett also had a double-double as she scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds ... The Lady Pirates of Armstrong Atlantic completed a season sweep of the Lady Eagles as they won 58-53 on December 17. C-N was haunted once again by poor shooting as they connected on only 21 of 68 field goal attempts (31 percent) against AASU ... The game was close throughout as the score was tied five times and the lead changed 11 times. Amanda Ray had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Ashley Tipton came off the bench to score 13 points for C-N ... The Lady Eagles rang out 2005 in Denver where they dropped two games, each played at the Colorado School of Mines. Against the host Lady Orediggers, the Lady Eagles saw CSM use a 21-1 run over the final 13 minutes of the first half to build a 32-13 lead. C-N came back to cut the lead to 13 with two minutes remaining, but the deficit was too much as they dropped a 66-49 game to Mines ... The second half was much better than the first for the Lady Eagles as they outscored the home team 36-34 and committed only five turnovers in the half compared to 16 in the first 20 minutes of play ... Gabby Smith led the Lady Eagles with 15 points and Eboni Johnson had 10 points ... The Lady Eagles played much better against Fort Hayes State but still came up a little short, falling to the Lady Tigers 71-66. After building a 36-29 lead at the half, FHSU padded their lead to 12 points on three different occasions. The Lady Eagles came back to cut the lead to six all three times ... The final three minutes was a defensive clinic by Carson-Newman as the Lady Eagles forced four consecutive turnovers as Fort Hayes never go the ball across half-court because of a smothering trapping defense ... The Lady Eagles also connected on six three-pointers in the final 20 minutes to claw back into the contest. C-N cut the lead to 69-66 with 30.8 seconds remaining but the Lady Tigers hit their free throws down the stretch to preserve the win ... Eboni Johnson and Gabby Smith each scored 13 points to lead C-N ... The Lady Eagles open conference play on Saturday as they host Newberry at 6 p.m. Both teams were in the NCAA Tournament last season.

CATAWBA - The Lady Indians ended a four-game losing streak with a 61-59 win over previously unbeaten St. Augustine’s on Monday at Catawba’s New Years Classic ... Hillary Hampton equaled a career-high with 17 points and connected on four three-pointers in the opening five minutes of the second half to help Catawba grab a 43-34 lead ... The Lady Indians never trailed after that, getting a pair of free throws by Brittany Higgins with eight seconds left to secure the win ... The Lady Indians got 16 points and nine rebounds from Tamekia Foster, who also added four steals, three assists and two blocks ... Hannah Davis tallied 13 points, while Gia Colombo dished out eight assists ... Catawba shot 42 percent for the game ... The 59 points allowed to St. Augustine’s marked the fifth time this season that the Lady Indians have held an opponent under 60 points ... Davis is the leading scorer this season at 14.1 a game with Foster adding 11.3 points and 8.6 rebounds ... Catawba will host Livingstone in the final game of the New Years Classic on Tuesday afternoon and begins conference play at home on Saturday against Lenoir-Rhyne.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College women’s basketball team (7-6) split its pair of contest last Thursday and Friday (December 29 and 30) at the All-State Insurance Holiday Classic at the G.B. Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C. … Tampa defeated Lenoir-Rhyne, 72-60, on Thursday before L-R downed Converse, 68-44, on Friday … Tampa was spearheaded by Tay Mathis, who finished with 30 points including six treys … Mathis was especially effective in the first half, making five three-pointers and scored 17 points in helping Tampa to a 38-31 lead at break … Lenoir-Rhyne cut the lead to 40-38 early in the second half but could not get any closer as Tampa gradually built the lead back to double digits … L-R senior forward Shannon Jones (Warrenton, N.C.) and junior forward Joanie White (Claremont, N.C.) each finished with 12 points to lead the Bears while Jones tallied a game-high rebounds … The Bears also shot just 37 percent (22-of-60) from the field … In the win over Converse, Lenoir-Rhyne opened the second half with a 16-4 run to break open a close game (32-27, L-R, at the half) … Jones once again led the Bears with 18 points and 14 rebounds while sophomore guard Leah Barrier (Morganton, N.C.) added 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals for an outstanding to complete an outstanding all-around game … Jones leads the SAC in rebounding at 11.5 boards per outing and has eight double-doubles this year … Lenoir-Rhyne opens South Atlantic Conference play at Salisbury, N.C., when it takes on Catawba College Saturday at 2 p.m.

MARS HILL - MHC won both of their games over the Holiday break … They competed in the Florida Southern Holiday Classic in Lakeland, FL … MHC is now 9-3 overall and is off to their best start since the 2001-02 campaign … In the first game of the event, led by 23 points from Kristi Ferris (Knoxville, TN), Mars Hill downed host Florida Southern 80-65 … Mars Hill built a 41-34 advantage at halftime, then played a break-but-don’t-bend defense in the second half … Florida Southern rallied from a 59-51 deficit with 8:50 remaining to tie the game at 59-59 at the 6:02 mark … Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) then hit a three-pointer that triggered a 14-1 run by Mars Hill and the Moccasins never recovered … Ferris hit seven-of-eight from the field en route to 14 first half points and finished with an 11-of-17 performance from the field … Joining her in double figures were Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, TN) with 16 points, Schafer with 13, and Lindsey Jones (Crossville, TN) with 10 … In the final round of the tournament, Ferris and Schafer scored 16 points apiece to lead the Lions past Saint Leo University 87-57 … Ferris was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player as she averaged 19.5 points per game in the event … Ferris played only 20 minutes in the game … Jones was also selected to the All-Tournament team for her performances … She scored 10 points against Florida Southern and then added 13 against Saint Leo … Schafer hit a jumper with 16:28 left in the first half to give MHC a 7-6 lead they would not relinquish the remainder of the contest … After that point the Lions out scored Saint Leo 37-to-17 over the next 16 minutes to take a 44-23 lead into the locker room at halftime … Schafer scored 14 of her 16 points in the first frame … The second half was all Mars Hill … Ferris hit a 3-pointer with 10:59 on the clock to give MHC a 62-40 lead and the Lions would not let Saint Leo come within 20 points of them the rest of the way … MHC built their biggest lead of 31 points (87-56) when Danielle Francis (Bamberg, SC) converted an old fashioned 3-point play with 56 ticks left in regulation … MHC scored 21 points off Saint Leo miscues and received 37 points off their bench … MHC hit 49.3 percent (33-67) of their field goal attempts while Saint Leo converted on 40.3 percent (25-62) of their shots … MHC hit an incredible 63.2 percent (12-19) from behind the arc while Saint Leo struggled hitting only 2-of-11 attempts (18.2 percent) from 3-point range. MHC barely won the rebound battle, 41-to-40 … Jones had seven rebounds to go along with her 13 points … Katie Davis (Harriman, TN) was the only other Lion in double-figures in scoring with 10 points … The Lions have won seven of their last eight contests … MHC will return to action on January 4 when they host USC Upstate in Stanford Arena … Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. … MHC will begin conference play on January 6 at Presbyterian College at 2 p.m.

NEWBERRY - The Lady Indians will continue to tune up for South Atlantic Conference play with their final non-conference tilt at Erskine on Tuesday before meeting Carson-Newman this Saturday. Erskine has not won since November 28 but has played only five games this season. The only common opponent is Lander, a team to which both Newberry and Erskine lost, each scoring 69 points in the losing effort ... Erskine holds a 25-17 advantage all-time. The Flying Fleet won the first 13 meetings with Newberry not gaining a win until its 11th season of women’s basketball. The Lady Indians proceeded to win the next eight contests between the schools ... Newberry had to settle for silver at the Heritage Bank Holiday Classic this past week, as Clayton State held off a late Newberry run to defeat the Lady Indians, 74-63, at the Athletics & Fitness Center in Morrow, Ga. The Lakers led by as many as 22 points, 49-27, with 16:45 remaining in the contest but had to fend off the Lady Indians, as they stormed back into the contest in the final 10 minutes of the game. Newberry drew as close as seven, but six-for-six CSU foul shooting salvaged the win for the hosts. The loss ended Newberry’s seven-game winning streak.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian College improved to 10-2 on the season after splitting a pair of games over the holiday break. The Lady Blue Hose lost 65-60 in overtime to NCAA Division I High Point University on the road December 20, but came back to defeat Mount Olive College 88-53 on January 2 ... PC 10-2 record is still the best start for the program since the 1999-2000 season ... High Point University outscored the Lady Blue Hose 8-3 in the extra frame to escape with a 65-50 overtime victory at home on December 20. The game was tied at 27-27 at intermission and both teams scored 30 points in the second half to force overtime ... Neither team shot the ball well from the floor with the Panthers shooting 32 percent for the game while PC shot 34.4 percent ... The Lady Blue Hose won the battle of the boards 55-50, but turned the ball over 18 times ... PC did block seven HPU shots on the night led by freshman center Sharie Hopkins (Chesapeake, Va.) who tallied four blocks to go along with seven points and four boards in 23 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Bridget Takach (Chapin, S.C.) led PC with 14 points on three-of-five shooting from three-point range, while freshman guard Marie Marquez (Greenville, S.C.) came off the bench to add 10 points and six rebounds. Senior forward Wesley Campbell (Greenville, S.C.) added nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds ... PC shot 71.8 percent from the field as a team including an impressive 94.1 percent in the second half (16-of-17) en route to a 88-53 rout of Mount Olive College on January 2. Senior Rebecca Wessinger scored 16 of her game-high 22 points in the second half to lead the Lady Blue Hose. Takach added 13 points, four rebounds, and four assists, while senior forward Wesley Campbell (Greenville, S.C.) tied her career-high with 17 points to go along with five boards, three assists, and two blocked shots ... PC dominated the backboards 40-23 and hit four-of-seven three-point field goals on the day. PC also blocked six shots led by Campbell and Hopkins who tallied two apiece ... Defensively, PC is allowing only 62.4 ppg and hold a +9.2 rebound advantage this season. When PC holds its opponents to under 67 points, they are 10-1 this season. PC on offense has six players averaging atleast 8.0 ppg and eight players are averaging atleast 11 minutes per game ... Sophomore guard Amy Jones has come into her own this season. The native of Warthen, Ga., is averaging 10.5 ppg, 3.9 apg, 4.4 rpg, 1.6 spg while shooting 39.6 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three-point range, and 79.2 percent from the free throw line. She ranks in six different statistical categories in the latest South Atlantic Conference statistics ... Freshman center Sharie Hopkins has made the most of her playing time this season. Hopkins is averaging 9.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 1.0 spg, while shooting 64.3 percent from the floor ... Wessinger leads the team in scoring (15.8 ppg), and is fourth in rebounds (5.5 rpg) while shooting 48.5 percent from the field, 35 percent from beyond the arc, and 1.8 percent from the line. She currently has 1,138 career points which ranks 13th in program history. She recently passed former All-SAC standout and teammate Bonnie Werner (2001-04) for 13th place with 1,129 career points. She needs 42 points to pass former All-SAC standout, Karen Neeley (1993-97) for 12th place with 1,179 career points ... Fellow senior Wesley Campbell has come up big this season and is averaging 9.7 ppg, a team-best 6.7 rpg, and shooting 80 percent from the line ... Sophomore guard Bridget Takach (Chapin, S.C.) leads the team in three-point field goal percentage (49 percent), made three-pointers (25) and is 2nd in assists per game (2.5) ... PC travels to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on Converse College on Wednesday, January 4 at 7:00 pm before opening South Atlantic Conference play at home on Saturday, January 7 at 2:00 pm against the Lady Lions of Mars Hill College.

TUSCULUM - Tusculum has been idle since its trip to Savannah, Ga., for the Chatham Orthopedics Holiday Classic Dec. 16-17… The Pioneers closed out the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 66-62 win over Fayetteville State and concluded the first half of their 2005-06 slate with a 9-2 record… The 9-2 mark is TC’s best start since the 1994-95 season… Chassity Martin currently leads the squad with an average of 15.5 points per game, while Amber Redding paces the Pioneers with an average of 9.3 rebounds per contest. Brooke Underwood is averaging a team-best 9.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game, while Stephany Neptune leads TC with 1.5 blocks per outing… Redding was named the SAC Player of the Week on Dec. 19. She became only the third Tusculum women’s basketball student-athlete to receive the honor since Tusculum joined the league in 1999… TC hosts Wingate in its SAC season opener on Jan. 7. Wingate holds a 12-2 advantage in the all-time series between the squads, including wins in the last six meetings. The last time the Pioneers defeated the Bulldogs (86-84) was Feb. 1, 2003, at Wingate… The Pioneers are 6-0 in home games so far this season.

WINGATE - Wingate and Catawba were winners in opening night women’s basketball action at the New Year’s Classic sponsored by Comfort Suites on Monday at Goodman Gym. Wingate (7-4 overall) rolled to a 102-78 win over Livingstone (4-5 overall), while Catawba (4-8 overall) defeated previously unbeaten St. Augustine’s (9-1 overall) 61-59 ... With the 24-point victory, Wingate presents head coach Johnny Jacumin with his 550th win during his 26-season Bulldog coaching career. Entering Tuesday afternoon’s contest versus St. Augustine’s (2 p.m.), Jacumin possesses a 550-208 Wingate coaching record ... Wingate rolled to a big lead by the half of the opener. The Bulldogs connected on 70 percent (19-of-27) from the floor and hit 16-of-18 (89 percent) at the line to grab a 56-27 lead at the break. The Bulldogs held as much as a 33-point edge in the opening half ... The Bulldogs never trailed and used a 16-1 run early in the game to break out to a 27-9 edge. The Bulldogs cooled slightly in the second half, finishing the game at 62 percent, but Livingstone never got closer than 20 points ... Veronica Taylor (Columbia, S.C.) led Wingate with 19 points, while Tanetra Barrett (Marshville, N.C.) added 17. Kim Westray and Kimone Johns tallied 13 points each for Livingstone ... The Bulldogs face St. Augustine’s College today (Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006) in the Catawba New Year’s Classic. After a road contest at Tusculum Saturday, the Bulldogs will play their first home game since Dec. 3 when they entertain Presbyterian Wednesday (Jan. 11).