Salisbury, N.C.----Fresh from its first conference win in the 2009-10 season against Lincoln Memorial, the Wingate University women’s basketball team will try to make it two in a row as they travel to face South Atlantic Conference foe Catawba College Wednesday night at Goodman Gym. The Bulldogs are playing their best basketball of the season, with three victories in their last four contests.
Wingate topped SAC foe LMU 78-69 Saturday. Before Christmas, the Bulldogs earned a two-point victory against 15th-ranked Francis Marion. Wingate is 7-4 on the season and 1-1 in the SAC, good for a tie for fourth place with Tusculum and Newberry. This will be only the third true road contest for the ‘Dogs and first in over a month.
Catawba sits at 7-5 overall and 0-1 in the SAC. The Indians were picked to finish sixth in the preseason SAC poll. The Tribe was out of conference play last weekend, beating the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) 66-61 at home. The Catawba Indians have the most home wins (six) this season among South Atlantic Conference teams.
The Bulldogs only two road games this year have both been in defeat, but by the slimmest of margins. During the first week of the season, Wingate dropped a 65-60 overtime decision to Johnson C. Smith. On Nov. 30, Wingate overcame a 14-point second half deficit at USC Aiken, but fell in the waning seconds 75-71.
The Wingate match-up will be the eighth time the Catawba women have taken the floor at home, the most so far this year in the SAC (by two games). The 6-1 home record includes wins over Mount Olive, Barton, and Saint Paul’s (Va.) twice. The Bulldogs and the Tribe do not have any common opponents this season.
Wingate head coach Barbara Nelson is 4-1 in her young career against Catawba, including the season series split last year. In the same fashion as the Wingate and Catawba men, both road teams won the 2009 contests on the women’s side. On Jan. 7, 2009, Catawba overcame a 10-point halftime deficit thanks to 55 percent shooting in the second half on the way to a 76-67 win. Wingate managed nine second-half field goals compared to 20 by the Tribe. In Salisbury, Wingate began its late season surge with a 95-80 win. The Bulldogs had another halftime lead and this time made it stick, thanks in large part to 43 trips to the foul line.
Wingate is led offensively by sophomore guard Kurie Washington (Marion, N.C.), who is Wingate’s only double-figure scorer at 17 points per game in only 25 minutes per contest. Last season, Washington led the league in scoring during SAC contests, averaging 18.8 points per game. She was named the league’s Freshman of the Year. Washington was the fourth Wingate player in the decade to earn the award.
The ‘Dogs have six players averaging between eight and five points per game. Junior guard CC Brooks (Mount Holly, N.C.), who averaged in double figures last season, is averaging 8.3 points per game and is second on the team in free throw percentage. Senior captain Stacie Rhodes (Knightdale, N.C.) has been the most productive post presence for Wingate, averaging six points and seven rebounds while compiling a total of 18 blocks.
Catawba’s only conference game this season was in December at Lenoir-Rhyne. The Indians shot 50 percent in the first half but were down by 20 at the break, eventually losing 87-66. The LRU Bears are the defending SAC champs and return all five starters from last year’s team. Catawba comes into its second conference game with three players posting double figures per game, led by Dana Hicks (York, S.C.) and Nisha Long (Dallas, N.C.), who both score 14 points per contest. In addition, Hicks averages a team-high nine rebounds per game. She is tied for third on the SAC rebounding charts.
The Wingate Sports Network will provide a live audio broadcast on Stretch Internet. The Lowe’s “Countdown to Tip-Off Show” is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. Ryan Brown (Wingate class of 2006) and Wayne Shadrick will have the call from courtside at Goodman Gym. Catawba College will also provide in-game live statistics.
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution of 2,159 students offering active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, world travel, career discovery and community service.
Wingate offers more than 40 undergraduate majors in arts and sciences, business, communication, education, fine arts, music and sport sciences. It also offers graduate degrees in business, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration. In addition, the school awards the doctor of pharmacy and the doctor of education degrees.
Bulldog student-athletes compete in 19 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past three years.
Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 34 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 43 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.
(Wingate University director of broadcasting Ryan Brown wrote this article. Brown is a 2006 Wingate graduate with a B.A. degree in Communication Studies.)
