BOX SCORE

Jefferson City, Tenn.----A furious second half comeback by the Wingate University women’s basketball team fell short as the Carson-Newman College Eagles held on to defeat the Bulldogs 71-66 in a South Atlantic Conference match-up Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse. With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 13-7 and in a tie for fourth place with a 7-5 SAC record. Carson-Newman improves to 12-8 overall and 6-6 in the SAC. The teams split the season series, with Wingate winning 74-55 at Cuddy Arena on Dec. 3.

After trailing by 24 points with 14:49 to play, the Bulldogs battled back to trim the lead to 14 (50-36), with a shade over 10 minutes to play. A jumper by senior forward Simone Rutledge (Atlanta, Ga.) with 7:26 to go brought Wingate to within nine, the first time the Carson-Newman lead had been within single digits since the 12:26 mark of the first half. The Eagles pushed the advantage back to double digits on their next possession and held at least an eight-point advantage until a jumper by sophomore guard Nikki Burton (Charlotte, N.C.) at the 3:58 mark gave the home team a 58-52 buffer.

Wingate cut the Carson-Newman advantage to four after a four-point play with 58 seconds to go. Burton made a jump shot and junior forward Tish Logan (Suitland, Md.) made both of her free throws after she was pushed into Burton by sophomore forward Shannon Depew (Newport, Tenn.).

After freshman guard Jade Montgomery (Monroe, N.C.) picked up her first foul on the inbounds pass, C-N sophomore guard Rechelle Dye (Greeneville, Tenn.) made both free throws to push the lead back to six. Seven seconds later, the Bulldogs cut the lead back to four with a Burton lay-up.

Dye was again fouled by Montgomery, this time with 34 seconds to go, with Dye making both shots. Dye made one of two free throws with 18 seconds to go, but the Bulldogs didn’t throw in the towel. Wingate junior guard Janitsha Williams (Statesville, N.C.) hit a three- pointer with 13 seconds left to bring the ‘Dogs to within four. Dye was fouled by Burton and converted on both free throws.

Wingate pulled to within three after a three pointer by freshman guard Kelli Bonner (Yadkinville, N.C.) with six seconds to play. The Eagles were able to burn five seconds off the clock before Montgomery fouled Depew with less than a second to play, sending Depew to the line. Depew hit both of her free throws to finish 11-of-12 from the line and give the Eagles their fourth win in their last five contests. Dye made nine of 12 free throws, with all of her makes coming in the final 1:09.

Burton and Williams each scored 14 points for the Bulldogs. Senior guards Tiffany Brown (Cartersville, Ga.) and Kurie Washington (Marion, N.C.)contributed 13 and 12 points respectively. Junior guard Whitney Moody (Blountville, Tenn.) scored a game-high 20 points for the Lady Eagles, with senior forward Zoriah Williams (Calera, Ala.), Dye and Depew also scoring in double figures for Carson-Newman.

Wingate got off to a slow start in the first half, with the Eagles breaking out on a 9-2 run before the first media timeout and holding a 20-5 advantage just past the midway point of the opening half. Wingate was held to single digits until a Washington jumper made the score 23-11 in favor of the Eagles with 5:57 before halftime. The Bulldogs scored six more points prior to halftime as Carson-Newman held a 37-19 advantage. Of the 37 Carson-Newman first-half points, 11 came as a result of Wingate turnovers. The Eagles outrebounded Wingate 27-16 in the opening frame and 49-32 for the game.

Wingate begins a two-game homestand on Wednesday, welcoming rival Lenoir-Rhyne to Cuddy Arena at 6 p.m. Carson-Newman will host Tusculum at the same time, with the Pioneers making the trip to Wingate for a 2 p.m. afternoon matinee on Feb. 11