Food Lion SAC Women's Basketball Championship Summary: Carson-Newman Over Wingate, 64-42, for Title
March 6, 2005

HICKORY, N.C. - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament as they defeated Wingate 64-42 in the championship game of the 2005 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament held Sunday afternoon at the Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Center.

Carson-Newman's women's basketball team celebrates its first SAC tourney championship after a 64-42 win over Wingate.

The win by the Lady Eagles is the first time Carson-Newman has ever won the SAC Tournament as they lost in the finals in 1995, 1998 and 1999.

"This is an example of how the program has progressed," Carson-Newman head coach Dean Walsh said after the game. "It was great to see the look of (C-N president) Dr. Netherton and (Athletic Director) David Barger's face after the game. This has been a team effort across the Carson-Newman campus."

The Lady Eagles were led in scoring by tourney MVP Brooke Johnson (Seymour, Tenn.) who had 15 points. Giovanni Booker (Orlando, Fla.), also a member of the All-Tournament team, added 11 points. All-SAC Tourney member Tiffany Parker (Newnan, Ga.) had 12 rebounds for the Lady Eagles. Wingate's Tanetra Barrett (Marshville, N.C.) was the only Bulldog to finish in double figures as she scored 11 points. Veronica Taylor (Columbia, S.C.) was named to the All-SAC Tournament team as she pulled down 11 rebounds. She established a new SAC Tournament record with 50 rebounds in three games. Carnicha Bellinger (Greenville, S.C.) of Newberry was also named to the All-Tournament team.

"With the exception that we both had 11 steals, Carson-Newman did everything they wanted when they wanted to," Wingate head coach Johnny Jacumin said. "They dominated us in every aspect of the game. I think we are a better team than we showed today. We weren't able to get the ball to Veronica (Taylor) and that hurt us."

The Lady Eagles built their biggest lead of the first half at 17-10 when Booker scored on a lay-up at the 8:28 mark. But the Bulldogs would not go away as Wingate cut the C-N advantage to 25-23 when Barrett took a steal of a Lady Eagles pass by Petra Nagy (Budapest, Hungary) and scored on a lay-up with 2:23 remaining in the half. The two teams swapped baskets until Carson-Newman carried a 28-25 lead into the locker room at half time with a free throw by Brittaney Gooch (Franklin, Ky.) with 16 seconds remaining.

Carson-Newman began to pull away from the Bulldogs in the second half. The Lady Eagles pushed the lead into double figures when Gabby Smith (Kansas City, Mo.) scored on a steal and lay-up with 13:31 remaining in the game. The Lady Eagles would continue to hold a comfortable lead until Kala Greene (Morristown, Tenn.) capped the scoring with a jumper in the lane with 42 seconds remaining in the contest.

The Lady Eagles will advance to the NCAA Tournament which will be held next weekend. Pairings for the regional tournament will be released late Sunday night.

"This hasn't sunk in yet," Walsh said. "We have been focused on taking care of business and taking one game at a time. I am so proud of this team, especially defensively. We were in the right place at the right time on the defensive end of the floor today. Everyone played well."

CARSON-NEWMAN 64, WINGATE 43
CARSON-NEWMAN ((23-7)) Johnson, Brooke 4-10 7-9 15; Booker, Giovanni 5-13 1-6 11; Parker, Tiffany 4-10 1-2 9; Cate, Amy 3-6 1-3 7; Smith, Gabrielle 3-6 1-1 7; Clark, Renita 2-2 0-0 6; Greene, Kala 3-8 0-0 6; Gooch, Brittaney 1-2 1-2 3; Jackson, Amanda 0-2 0-0 0; Davison, LaToya 0-1 0-0 0; Geyer, Gretchen 0-1 0-0 0; Avrett, Nicole 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 12-23 64.
WINGATE ((20-10)) Barrett, Tanetra 4-10 3-5 11; Taylor, Veronica 4-14 1-2 9; Metzker, Kerri 4-7 1-3 9; Byer, Lakin 2-4 1-2 5; Nagy, Petra 1-5 0-2 3; Edwards, Kate 1-3 0-0 2; Proffit, Shannon 1-3 0-0 2; Greiner, Ali 0-3 1-2 1; Griffin, Cerrissa 0-1 1-2 1; Whisenant, Lauren 0-1 0-0 0; Paffrath, Emily 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 17-55 8-18 43.

Carson-Newman................. 28 36 - 64 
Wingate....................... 25 18 - 43 

3-point goals-Carson-Newman 2-9 (Clark, Renita 2-2; Booker, Giovanni 0-1; Cate, Amy 0-1; Greene, Kala 0-2; Gooch, Brittaney 0-1; Jackson, Amanda 0-1; Johnson, Brooke 0-1), Wingate 1-12 (Nagy, Petra 1-4; Taylor, Veronica 0-1; Byer, Lakin 0-1; Edwards, Kate 0-1; Proffit, Shannon 0-2; Greiner, Ali 0-3). Fouled out--Carson-Newman-None, Wingate-None. Rebounds-Carson-Newman 49 (Parker, Tiffany 12), Wingate 39 (Taylor, Veronica 11). Assists-Carson-Newman 13 (Booker, Giovanni 6), Wingate 12 (Nagy, Petra 4). Total fouls-Carson-Newman 14, Wingate 16. A-1008 C-N Wins 2005 Food Lion SAC Tournament Championship