Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University finished the game on a 17-3 run, knocking Anderson (S.C.) University from the ranks of the South Atlantic Conference unbeatens en route to a 59-48 come-from-behind league victory Wednesday afternoon in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Bulldog graduate student post players (and roommates) Chantal Dunbar (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Andrea Bertrand (Midlothian, Va.) combined for 23 points and 17 rebounds for the victors.
 
Wingate is 6-6 overall and 4-1 in the SAC. The AU Trojans fall for the first time in league play, slipping to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the SAC. The host Bulldogs start the New Year on road, visiting RV/#18 Carson-Newman University for a 2 p.m. league fray Saturday. Anderson hosts Catawba Saturday at the same time.

"Today was a huge win," Wingate head coach Ann Hancock says. "The SAC is extremely challenging. One needs to win at home. I think the fifth-year seniors really stepped up down the stretch." 

Dunbar had 12 points and eight rebounds, while Bertrand posted 11 points and nine boards. Wingate sophomore guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) supported the Bulldog cause with nine points and five rebounds. WU redshirt senior point guard Brittany Hill (Mechanicsville, Va.) filled up her statistics ledger with seven points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds. Ten of the 11 Bulldog student-athletes who participated Saturday found the scoring column.
 
Anderson shot a frigid 28.1 percent (18-of-64) from the floor, including 24.2 percent in the first half as Wingate took a 30-20 lead at intermission. AU junior guard Madison Floyd (Cowpens, S.C.) had 10 points off the Trojan bench. Senior guard Lesley Woods (Raleigh, N.C.) added nine points on the strength of a game-high three three-point field goals. Nine of the 10 Anderson players who saw action Saturday hit at least one field goal.
 
The Trojans led 45-42 with 7:41 to play, thanks to two free throws by junior forward Jasmine Franklin (Simpsonville, S.C.). The three-point edge was Anderson's largest lead of the afternoon. The visitors were one-for-six from the floor and zero-for-two from the foul line in the last seven minutes. Anderson had three of their 20 turnovers in the last five minutes (Wingate also committed 20 miscues).
 
Wingate took the lead for good as Bertrand hit back-to-back inside jumpers (7:05, 6:28) on consecutive possessions to make the score 46-45 Bulldogs. Hill had an old-fashioned three-point play (5:51) and Bertrand added another hoop (5:08) to complete a Bulldog 9-0 run. Woods hit her third and final triple (3:33) to cut the AU deficit to 51-48. The Trojans would get no closer in the waning moments.
 
Dunbar (six points) and Hill (two points) iced the victory by combining for an 8-0 flurry to conclude the contest. Wingate sophomore guard Alex Tomlinson (Raleigh, N.C.) had a steal and a blocked shot in the final 93 seconds to remove any doubt.
 
The Trojans had 22 offensive rebounds en route to a 43-38 rebounding advantage. Anderson converted the 22 boards into 21 second-chance points. By contrast, the Bulldogs snagged only 10 offensive rebounds, scoring six second-chance points.
 
The Bulldogs won their fourth consecutive contest over the Trojans, as Wingate took three-of-three games against Anderson last season after the black-and-gold South Carolinians won both contests between the two schools in the 2012-13 season.
"Anderson is a very good team with a lot of weapons," Hancock says. "We did a good job of getting some stops late and converting. Hopefully, we can gain some momentum heading to play Carson Newman (Saturday)."