Women's Basketball | 11/13/2014 7:56:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's basketball team opens the 2014-15 season Friday, visiting Southeast Region foe Clayton State for the Loch Shop Region Challenge in the CSU Athletics Center. The Bulldogs will face the host Lakers Friday at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, Wingate battles Columbus State at 1:30 p.m. Both the Columbus State Cougars and the CSU Lakers belong to the Peach Belt Conference (Wingate position preview #1, Wingate position preview #2).
 
Wingate won the South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament titles last year, compiling a 24-6 overall record and earning an automatic qualification to the NCAA play-offs. The Bulldogs lead the SAC with 12 appearances in the NCAA Division II national tournament. Wingate has won 11 SAC regular season crowns and seven SAC tournament championships.
 
"The Clayton State tournament is a great opportunity for our team to see where we are against tremendous competition in the region," Wingate head coach Ann Hancock says.  "Our practices have been very competitive and energetic.  We are looking forward to the challenge. These games should be good preparation for the conference schedule, which starts right away."
 
Pre-season All-SAC forward and Wingate graduate student Chantal Dunbar (Virginia Beach, Va.) leads 13 returning letter winners. Dunbar averaged 11.3 points per game and 10.1 rebounds per game during an All-SAC campaign in 2012-13. Her return to form will be a big plus for the Bulldogs.
 
Three starters return from last year's SAC title team. Guards Amber Neely (Charlotte, N.C.) and Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) averaged 8.2 points and 8.1 points per game, respectively, in 2013-14. A junior, Neely led the Bulldogs with 4.3 assists per game. Tricoli started 23 of 30 games as a true freshman, posting double-digit points in six of Wingate's last seven contests.
 
Wingate junior forward Morgan McGee (Durham, N.C.) averaged 7.9 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Bulldog junior Sharee Boyd (Charlotte, N.C.) and senior Brooklyn Boston (Lenoir, N.C.) will join McGee in the front court, as they saw time in 28 and 30 games, respectively, during Wingate's championship season.
 
Senior guard Kelli Bonner (Yadkinville, N.C.) is the only other Bulldog who returns with starting experience, as the three-point specialist started eight of her 30 games last season. Bonner's 18 three-point field goals are second to Tricoli's 33 among veteran players.
 
Wingate will miss 2014 All-SAC performers Kayla Harris and Janitsha Williams, who averaged 32.8 points per game and 17.3 rebounds per game, collectively, last season. In the post, junior Alysia Hudson (Jacksonville, N.C.) and senior Tameka Lewis (Tampa, Fla.) will look for more time. Sophomore forward Janna Johnson (Wake Forest, N.C.) will miss most of the 2014-15 season due to injury.
 
In the Bulldog backcourt, senior guard Jasmine DeBerry (Charlotte, N.C.) saw time in 24 games as a junior. Sophomore guard Alex Tomlinson (Raleigh, N.C.) appeared in 21 contests. Both DeBerry and Tomlinson can hit the jumper and beat opponents on the drive. Sophomore guard Taylor Walker (Trinity, N.C.) gives Wingate another dependable backcourt player.
 
Three newcomers will have a big say in Wingate's 2014-15 fortunes. Bulldog redshirt senior guard Brittany Hill (Mechanicsville, Va.) spent the 2013-14 season as a redshirt following her transfer from USC Aiken. She started every game as a junior for the Pacers. Graduate student forward Andrea Bertrand (Midlothian, Va.) was an All-Mountain East Conference first team selection at Concord (W.Va.) University last spring. Freshman forward Akela Branch (Albemarle, N.C.) joins the Wingate family after a distinguished career at Albemarle High.
 
Wingate will begin its SAC league play on Nov. 19 at Catawba. The Bulldogs split with Catawba in the 2013-14 season. Wingate will than face Tusculum (Nov. 22) and Lenoir-Rhyne (Nov. 25). Wingate defeated the L-R Bears 77-73 in the SAC championship final. The Bulldogs will also match-up against UNC Pembroke (Nov. 30) before opening in Cuddy Arena against Lander on Dec. 3.
 
Wingate will host Shaw on Dec. 9 for Future Bulldog Day at 11 a.m. The third annual Future Bulldog Day will attract more than 1000 N.C. fifth-graders and their chaperones for a day of campus tours, educational emphasis and basketball.
 
The Bulldog women will than head to Hawaii for games against Pittsburg State (Kan.) and BYU Hawaii. Wingate will face the PSU Gorillas on Dec. 17 and the BYU Hawaii Seasiders on Dec. 18. Wingate's last trip to Hawaii in December of 2003 featured contests against Holy Family (Pa.) and Florida Gulf Coast.
 
After a 10-day Christmas break, the Bulldogs close out 2014 with a home game against Anderson Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. Anderson was one of seven SAC teams Wingate swept during the 2013-14 season. The 2015 portion of Wingate's 2014-15 schedule will be totally devoted to conference play, beginning Jan. 3 at Carson-Newman.
 
The opening round of the 2015 SAC Tournament will be Wednesday, March 4 at the site of the higher seed. The SAC Tournament semifinals and championship game will take place at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. The semifinals are Saturday, March 7, while the championship game is Sunday, March 8.

The NCAA Southeast Region Tournament will take place March 13-16, while the NCAA Division II Elite Eight will be March 24-27. The Southeast Region tournament will be held on a campus site, while the Elite Eight is slated for Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, ranked as the 8th "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,000 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 37 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration, and doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy and education.
 
With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past eight years. For more information, go to www.wingate.edu.
 
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing colleges in the 2000's with 67 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate's 67 Academic All-America® honorees are number one during this millennium. Wingate's 76 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.