Game recaps and notes from around the South Atlantic Conference:

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Mars Hill women’s basketball team defeated SAC rival Carson-Newman College Wednesday night in Stanford Arena by a 20-point (69-49) margin. Lindsey Ferris hit a 3-pointer with 6:31 on the clock to give MHC a 19-16 lead they would hold on to the remainder of the contest. MHC went into the locker room up nine (31-22). MHC hit 48.1% (13-27) of their shots in the first half as opposed to the Eagles converting on only 29% (9-31). The Lions opened the second half on a 22-to-7 run to lead by 24 points (53-29) with 12:25 left in the contest after Ferris hit another shot from behind the arc. Ashley Tipton hit a foul shot with 6:19 left in regulation to cut the deficit to 17 points (56-39) but that was as close as C-N would get. MHC scored 28 points in the paint, 13 off C-N miscues and 11 off the break. The rebound battle was knotted at 39-all. Solid shooting was the difference as MHC finished the game hitting 47.4% (27-57) from the floor in contrast to the Eagles converting on 32.2% (19-59) of their field goal attempts. Tipton led the Eagles with 14 points and six rebounds followed by Cassie Burks with 10. Wingate junior forward Tanetra Barrett (Marshville, N.C.) poured in 27 points as the Bulldogs rallied from a five-point halftime deficit for a 72-64 victory over the Carson-Newman College Eagles on Senior Night at Cuddy Arena. Bulldog senior center Veronica Taylor added 11 points and nine rebounds as the Bulldogs outscored the Eagles 15-2 from the free throw line after intermission and won despite failing to hit a three-pointer. Carson-Newman senior forward Giovanni Booker led Carson-Newman with 14 points, while sophomore center Tashea Ledbetter chipped in 12 markers. Eagle senior forward Melanie Cleusix added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Wingate led by as many as six in the first half, but found itself down 34-29 at halftime after a lay-up by Carson-Newman freshman guard Ashley Tipton at the buzzer. The Bulldogs, who shot 53.8 percent in the second half (14-for-26), gradually chipped away at the advantage, first taking the lead at 40-38 on a jumper by junior forward Kerri Metzker with 15:26 remaining. The Eagles hung around before Wingate took the lead for good on a Barrett layup that put the Bulldogs up 44-42 with 13:47 left. Carson-Newman was still within one with less than eight minutes remaining, but Barrett hit an old-fashioned three-point play, and the Bulldogs made their free throws down the stretch. Carson-Newman hosts Lenoir-Rhyne in the first round of the SAC Tournament on March 1. C-N has defeated the Bears 70-54 and 69-57 in the two earlier meetings this season. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

CATAWBA - The Lady Indians ended the regular season with one of their best played games, rolling to a 65-38 win over Presbyterian ... Catawba had played well for a half against Wingate on Wednesday, leading 29-20 at the half, but would lose 74-61 ... The Lady Indians held Wingate to just 22 percent in the opening half to build their lead ... Freshman Brittany Higgins tossed in a career-best 19 points and grabbed six rebounds ... Hannah Davis had 16 points and eight rebounds, while Tamekia Foster added 12 points and eight boards ... PC managed only 25 percent shooting for the game and hit only 20 percent in the second half as Catawba led by as many as 30 ... Higgins again scored 19 points, while Davis had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds ... Foster had 12 points ... Catawba had 17 turnovers to 24 for the Blue Hose and held a 44-41 edge on the boards ... the win jumped Catawba out of last place and gave the Lady Indians the No. 6 seed for the upcoming tournament ... Catawba will travel to Tusculum on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tipoff in the first round of the league tourney.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College women’s basketball team (10-17, 3-11) lost its final two games of the regular season to South Atlantic Conference foes at home (85-50 to Newberry on Wednesday and 79-71 to Tusculum on Saturday) … Newberry, with its victory over Lenoir-Rhyne, swept the season series for the first time in school history … L-R kept Newberry at bay through most of the first half, trailing only by five (33-28) … However, the Lady Indians opened the second half with a 21-5 to take a 54-33 advantage the rout was on … Newberry added a 9-0 run later in the half and would go on to out-score Lenoir-Rhyne, 52-22, after intermission and limited the Bears to just 15 percent (four-of-27) shooting after break … Newberry, which out-rebounded Lenoir-Rhyne 51-25, was led by Tonique Frasier’s 22 points while senior forward Shannon Jones (Warrenton, N.C.) tallied her 13th double-double of the year with 11 points and 10 rebounds ... Lenoir-Rhyne held a 24-15 lead over Tusculum on Saturday but the Pioneers rallied just before the end of the first half and took a 33-31 lead going into break … Tusculum would never trail again and the Pioneers kept the offensive pressure on Lenoir-Rhyne in the second half while a 14-4 run midway through the second stanza gave the Pioneers its biggest lead of the game at 14 (54-40) en route to the win … Lauren Wrightson came of the bench to score 20 points on seven-of-seven field goal to lead Tusculum while Brooke Underwood (11 points, nine assists and seven rebounds) nearly pulled off a triple-double … Tusculum also shot 62 percent (16-of-26) in the second half … Jones scored 18 of her 20 points after break including 12-of-13 from the line but it wasn’t enough … Freshman forward Ashlei Helton (Icard, N.C./East Burke HS) added 16 points for the Bears, who committed 19 turnovers in the contest … Jones, who leads the SAC in rebounding (10.5 rpg), is seventh all time in school single-season history with 284 rebounds and eight in career rebounds at 626 … Lenoir-Rhyne, the seventh seed in the 2006 Food Lion SAC Tournament, will travel to Jefferson City, Tenn., to take on second-seeded Carson-Newman Wednesday at 7 p.m.

MARS HILL - MHC won both of their games last week … They defeated Carson-Newman at home, 69-49 and then beat Newberry on the road, 80-72 … The Lions are now 16-11 overall and 6-8 in the SAC … In the first game of the week, the Lions defeated SAC rival Carson-Newman College Wednesday night in Stanford Arena by a 20-point (69-49) margin … MHC celebrated senior night before the game … Kristi Ferris (Knoxville, TN) and Lindsey Jones (Crossville, TN) played their last contest in Stanford Arena and made the most of it combining for 32 points and eight rebounds … Ferris hit a 3-pointer with 6:31 on the clock to give MHC a 19-16 lead they would hold on to the remainder of the contest. MHC went into the locker room up nine (31-22) … MHC hit 48.1 percent (13-27) of their shots in the first half as opposed to the Eagles converting on only 29 percent (9-31) … The Lions opened the second half on a 22-to-7 run to lead by 24 points (53-29) with 12:25 left in the contest after Ferris hit another shot from behind the arc … Ashley Tipton (Knoxville, TN) hit a foul shot with 6:19 left in regulation to cut the deficit to 17 points (56-39) but that was as close as C-N would get … MHC scored 28 points in the paint, 13 off C-N miscues and 11 off the break … The rebound battle was knotted at 39-all … Solid shooting was the difference as MHC finished the game hitting 47.4 percent (27-57) from the floor in contrast to the Eagles converting on 32.2 percent (19-59) of their field goal attempts … Ferris led all scorers with 20 points followed by Allison Schafer (Advance, NC) with 14, Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, TN) with 13 and Jones with 12 … DeBusk led the Lions in rebounding with nine … Tipton led the Eagles with 14 points and six rebounds followed by Cassie Burks (Las Vegas, NV) with 10 … In the second game of the week, Sophomore Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, S.C.) and senior Tonya Deese (Newberry, S.C.) each recorded double-doubles on senior day, but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Indians dropped their final regular season game to Mars Hill College, 80-72 … With the loss, Newberry (15-12, 6-8) falls into a tie for fifth in the South Atlantic Conference standings with Mars Hill (16-11, 6-8) … Mars Hill wins the tie breaker and will become the fourth seed in the 2006 Food Lion SAC Tournament, due to a rules infraction by Presbyterian College, the SAC’s second place team … Newberry becomes the tournament’s fifth seed … After falling behind 38-30 at halftime, the Lady Indians rallied back early in the second with an 11-4 run, cutting the Mars Hill lead to one, 42-41, with 16:08 remaining … Mars Hill responded, however, with a 6-1 run of their own … Newberry kept battling and eventually tied the game at 52-all, with 9:54 to go … Minutes later, a Frasier jumper gave Newberry their first lead of the second half, 56-55, with 8:22 left … The Lions answered back with a monster 15-2 run, holding Newberry scoreless for nearly five minutes and forcing seven missed shots … The Mars Hill run gave them a 12-point advantage, 70-58, with 3:26 to go … Newberry would go on to cut that margin to six, 78-72, with 51 ticks on the clock, but they would get no closer down the stretch … Several missed free throws near the end of the game kept the Lady Indians from making an effective late run … For Newberry, Frasier poured in a career-high 23 points and grabbed 14 boards, while Deese tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds … Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) added 15 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds and Laura Marquardt (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) chipped in 10 points … The Lady Indians shot a dismal 51.9 percent from the charity stripe on the game … Mars Hill was led by 24 points and eight rebounds from Kristi Ferris (Knoxville, Tenn.) and 21 points and 10 boards from Lindsey Jones (Crossville, Tenn.) … Katie Davis (Harriman, Texas) contributed 16 points … Mars Hill converted on 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) free throws on the game … The Lions jumped on top early in the opening half, thanks to sound three-point shooting from Ferris and Davis … Mars Hill’s 11-0 run made the score 18-7 with 13:31 to go in the half. Newberry continued to struggle offensively, but their defense kept them within striking distance … Frasier, Deese, and Alexander sparked a 12-4 Newberry run late in the half, making their deficit just two, 30-28, with 4:47 to go … Mars Hill responded with an 8-2 run to end the half, giving them an eight-point lead at the break, 38-30 … Up next for both teams is the first round of the 2006 Food Lion SAC Tournament, which will be played on March 1 at the higher seed’s home court … Since Mars Hill has the tie breaker over Newberry, the fifth seeded Lady Indians will travel to fourth seed Mars Hill next Wednesday ... Game time is set for 7 p.m.

NEWBERRY - The Lady Indians string together a 1-1 week and drop into a tie for fifth place in the conference ... On Wednesday, Newberry came out of intermission on fire, outscoring Lenoir-Rhyne 25-8 over eight minutes to motor past the Bears, 85-50. The Lady Indians recorded their first conference road win of the season in grand fashion, holding its third SAC opponent to 50 points or less this season ... After a 33-28 halftime lead, Newberry went to work quickly. Tonique Frasier scored 13 of Newberry’s next 16 points, five of those on a single possession. Frasier converted a fast break basket on which she was fouled. Her free throw attempt was rebounded by Courtney Snowden, whose putback was no good. Frasier grabbed the miss, made the shot, and was fouled again. Her free throw was true, and the Lady Indians led 51-33 ... Newberry extended its lead to 35 at with 58 seconds left in the game, where the margin remained until the final horn. Newberry’s margin hovered around 30 for most of the final six minutes ... The Indian defense limited L-R to 14.8% shooting from the floor in the second period, while the offense scored 52 points, its highest second half total of the year ... Frasier tied a career high with 22 points on eight-for-14 shooting and six free throws. Ashlee Wright and Monica Alexander notched 18 and 15, respectively. Tonya Deese just missed her third double-double in four games, recording 10 rebounds and eight points ... On Saturday, Frasier and Deese each recorded double-doubles on senior day, but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Indians dropped their final regular season game to Mars Hill College, 80-72 ... After falling behind 38-30 at halftime, the Lady Indians rallied back early in the second with an 11-4 run, cutting the Mars Hill lead to one, 42-41, with 16:08 remaining. Mars Hill responded, however, with a 6-1 run of their own. Newberry kept battling and eventually tied the game at 52-all, with 9:54 to go. Minutes later, a Frasier jumper gave Newberry their first lead of the second half, 56-55, with 8:22 left ... The Lions answered back with a monster 15-2 run, holding Newberry scoreless for nearly five minutes and forcing seven missed shots. The Mars Hill run gave them a 12-point advantage, 70-58, with 3:26 to go. Newberry would go on to cut that margin to six, 78-72, with 51 ticks on the clock, but they would get no closer down the stretch. Several missed free throws near the end of the game kept the Lady Indians from making an effective late run ... For Newberry, Frasier poured in a career-high 23 points and grabbed 14 boards, while Deese tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds. Monica Alexander added 15 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds and Laura Marquardt chipped in 10 points ... Newberry will face Mars Hill Wednesday at 7, seeking its first win against the Lions in three tries this season.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian College (21-6, 10-4 SAC) went 2-1 this past week to close out the regular season. PC defeated Carson-Newman College (61-60) on Monday and Tusculum College (63-62) at home on Wednesday. The Lady Blue Hose dropped their regular season finale 65-38 at Catawba College on the road Saturday. PC will be the No. 8 seed in this week’s Food Lion SAC Tournament due self-reporting the use of an ineligible player during the season ... Bridget Takach made a three-pointer with no time left on the game clock to send the Presbyterian Lady Blue Hose home with a 61-60 win over the Carson-Newman Lady Eagles Monday night South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball action at Holt Fieldhouse. Takach, who finished with 14 points, buried four of her team’s 11 three-pointers. The Lady Eagles led 59-52 with 2:07 to play in the contest, but were out-scored 9-1 in the final two minutes. Presbyterian’s final five field goals in the game were all three-point baskets. Ashley Tipton led the way for the home team with a game-high 15 points, while Giovanni Booker and Gabrielle Smith added 10 apiece. Wesley Campbell added 13 for the Lady Blue Hose and Rebecca Wessinger tossed in 10 ... Presbyterian College’s sophomore Amy Jones hit a go-ahead jumper with 2.8 seconds remaining to give the Lady Blue Hose a 63-62 victory over the visiting Pioneers of Tusculum College in SAC women’s basketball action Wednesday night. PC, who trailed the entire second half, fought back from a 12-point second half deficit to take the victory. The Lady Blue Hose trailed 62-57 with 2:35 remaining before senior Cameron Cook scored four straight points to trim the lead to 62-61 with :39 seconds remaining. After forcing a Pioneer turnover on their next possession, Jones took the ball into the lane for a spinning jumper to give PC the lead for good. Wessinger led all scorers with 19 points on Senior Night, while freshman Morgan Johnson came off the bench to add a career-best 17 points and 10 boards. Jones finished the game with 14 points, three boards, and two blocks. Tuculum’s Brooke Underwood tallied 10 assists and four points, while Amber Redding added 18 points and eight boards ... Catawba freshman Brittany Higgins equaled a career-high with 19 points as the Lady Indians defeated visiting Presbyterian 65-38 in SAC women’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gym ... Catawba took the lead for good at 3-2 on a three-pointer by Tamekia Foster with 17:56 to go in the opening half. Catawba built the lead to 13 with five minutes to go in the half at 26-13. The Lady Blue Hose shot 30 percent in the first half and committed 13 turnovers as Catawba held a 29-17 edge at the break. The Lady Indians’ defense kept PC off the scoreboard for the first six and half minutes of the second half as Catawba rolled to a 41-17 advantage. Catawba pushed the lead to 60-30 in the closing minutes. PC made just 20 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 24.5 percent, making only 13 of 53 attempts. Catawba made 38 percent from the field. Senior Hannah Davis closed out her home career with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Foster scored a dozen points as well. Wesley Campbell led Presbyterian with 11 points and added six rebounds. Amy Jones followed with 10 points and six boards ... Defensively, PC is allowing only 63.1 ppg and hold a +9.7 rebound advantage this season. In league play, PC is allowing 64.7 ppg and holding a +9.0 rebound advantage. When PC holds its opponents to under 67 points, they are 17-3 this season. PC on offense has six players averaging atleast 7.0 ppg and eight players are averaging at least 16.0 minutes per game ... Sophomore guard Amy Jones has come into her own this season. The native of Warthen, Ga., is averaging 10.1 ppg, 4.0 apg, 4.6 rpg, 1.3 spg, 0.7 bpg, while shooting 38.5 percent from the field, 39.3 percent from three-point range, and 76.1 percent from the free throw line. She ranks in eight different statistical categories in the latest South Atlantic Conference statistics ... Wessinger leads the team in scoring (15.6 ppg), and is sixth in rebounds (4.2 rpg), while shooting 45.4 percent from the field, 40.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 73.9 percent from the line. She currently has 1,368 career points which ranks 5th in program history ... The Lady Blue Hose, seeded No. 8, will travel to Wingate, N.C. to take on top seed Wingate University Bulldogs on Wednesday, March 1 at 6:00 pm.

TUSCULUM - Tusculum split its final regular-season games against Presbyterian and Lenoir-Rhyne… TC led by as many as 12 points in the second half at Presbyterian but was unable to hold on to its advantage, dropping a tough 63-62 decision on a shot by PC’s Amy Jones with 2.8 seconds remaining in regulation… The Pioneers came away with a 79-71 victory at Catawba on Saturday… For the first time since joining the South Atlantic Conference in 1999, the Tusculum women will host a quarterfinal game in the Food Lion SAC Tournament. The Pioneers’ No. 3 seed is their highest ever… Finishing the regular season with a 16-9 mark, TC is also enjoying its best record since joining NCAA Division II… Junior Lauren Wrightson played an invaluable role in leading the Pioneers to victory at Catawba, coming off the bench to post a team-high 20 points in just 17 minutes of action. Wrightson was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and went 6-of-7 at the free throw line. She also tallied four rebounds and two steals while committing no turnovers… Junior Brooke Underwood also had a solid performance against the Lady Indians, recording 11 points, nine assists, four rebounds, and two steals… In Wednesday’s set-back in Clinton, Underwood dished out 10 assists to become the TC single-season leader. She has amassed 235 assists, topping the previous single-season mark of 224. Underwood’s average of 9.4 assists per game is tops in the NCAA… As has been the case all season, senior Amber Redding was a solid performer in two games last week. In the loss at PC, Redding led Tusculum with 18 points and eight rebounds. In Saturday’s victory at Catawba, she had 13 points, three rebounds, and four assists. For the week, Redding averaged 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per contest. She shot 57.9 percent from the field, 71.4 percent from three-point range, and 80.0 percent at the free throw line… Stephany Neptune recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday’s win… In Wednesday’s loss at Presbyterian, Chassity Martin had 16 points… Saturday’s 79-71 win at Catawba provided further proof that the Pioneers’ magic number is 70. When scoring at least 70 points, TC is 14-2. When failing to reach the 70-point plateau, they are just 2-7... The third-seeded Pioneers will host sixth-seeded Catawba in SAC quarterfinal action on Wednesday at Pioneer Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

WINGATE - Wingate University junior forward Tanetra Barrett poured in 27 points as the Bulldogs rallied from a five-point halftime deficit for a 72-64 victory over the Carson-Newman College Eagles on Senior Night at Cuddy Arena ... Bulldog senior center Veronica Taylor added 11 points and nine rebounds as the Bulldogs (22-5 overall, 11-3 South Atlantic Conference) outscored the Eagles (15-12, 7-7 SAC) 15-2 from the free throw line after intermission and won despite failing to hit a three-pointer ... Wingate led by as many as six in the first half, but found itself down 34-29 at halftime after a lay-up by Carson-Newman freshman guard Ashley Tipton at the buzzer ... The Bulldogs, who shot 53.8 percent in the second half (14-for-26), gradually chipped away at the advantage, first taking the lead at 40-38 on a jumper by junior forward Kerri Metzker with 15:26 remaining ... The Eagles hung around before Wingate took the lead for good on a Barrett layup that put the Bulldogs up 44-42 with 13:47 left. Carson-Newman was still within one with less than eight minutes remaining, but Barrett hit an old-fashioned three-point play, and the Bulldogs made their free throws down the stretch ... On Wednesday night, the Wingate women clinched the 2006 South Atlantic Conference regular season title with a 74-61 victory over Catawba College at Goodman Gymnasium. The Bulldogs have won or shared three SAC regular season titles in a row and nine overall ... Bulldog guards Tanetra Barrett and Anna Atkinson (Marion, N.C.) led the visitors with 16 points each. Wingate senior forward Shannon Proffit contributed 12 points and seven rebounds ... The Bulldogs prevailed Wednesday despite a frigid first half shooting effort. Wingate hit only seven-of-32 field goals for 21.9 percent in the opening frame. Catawba led 29-20 at intermission ... We think they (Catawba) had Saran" Wrap on our goal in the first half, Wingate head coach Johnny Jacumin said. We were all around the basket, but we couldnt get anything to fall.” ... “In the second half, we started making our shots,” Jacumin noted. “We played well in the second half. I thought (Petra) Nagy and (Shannon) Proffit were huge in the second half, hitting five big three-point field goals.” ... Nagy (three) and Proffit (two) combined to hit five triples after halftime. The Bulldogs nailed seven-of-10 trifectas in the second half (70 percent). ... A lay-up by Wingate senior center Veronica Taylor gave the visitors the lead for good at 43-41 with 12:24 remaining in the contest. Taylor’s hoop started a 20-6 run that ended with a Barrett jumper at the 4:45 mark. By the time the dust had settled, Wingate led 61-47 after Barrett’s basket ... The Bulldogs shot 50 percent (15-of-30) in the pivotal second half. The Indians struggled in both halves, as Catawba shot 34.3 percent (23-of-67) for the game. Wingate out rebounded Catawba 47-43, thanks to eight boards by junior forward Emily Paffrath and seven rebounds each by Proffit and Nagy.