Women's Basketball | 1/9/2015 4:56:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's basketball team looks to protect home court advantage Saturday, as the first-place Bulldogs host Lincoln Memorial University for a 2 p.m. South Atlantic Conference contest in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Wingate is 8-6 overall and 6-1 in the SAC. The Bulldogs have won four games in a row. The LMU Railsplitters are 7-6 overall and 3-4 in the SAC.
 
"LMU presents a difficult task for us," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "They are balanced with a tough inside-outside combination. Their size from top to bottom is bigger than most teams. We will have to keep them off the glass and not let them get points in the paint off second chances, while contesting their perimeter shooters."
 
On Wednesday night, the Wingate bench outscored the Lenoir-Rhyne reserves 26-4 to lift the Bulldogs to a 71-54 home SAC victory over the L-R Bears. Wingate senior guard Kelli Bonner (Yadkinville, N.C.) had 15 points, while graduate student forward Chantal Dunbar (Virginia Beach, Va.) recorded her 17th career double-double with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.  
 
The Bulldogs employ a balanced attack, as five active players average between 8.6 points per game and 10.9 points per game. Wingate junior forward Morgan McGee (Durham, N.C.) leads the Bulldogs with her 10.9 points per game. Dunbar is next on the Wingate charts with her 9.8 points per game. She is the Bulldogs' top rebounder (and second in the SAC) with 9.9 rebounds per game.
 
Wingate sophomore guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) averages 9.4 points per game, while senior guard Kelli Bonner (Yadkinville, N.C.) and graduate student forward Andrea Bertrand (Midlothian, Va.) both contribute 8.6 points per game. Bonner tops the Bulldog charts with 30 three-point field goals, while Tricoli has connected on 23 triples. Rredshirt senior guard Brittany Hill (Mechanicsville, Va.) leads Wingate with 57 assists.
 
The Bulldogs have had a different player lead the team in scoring during each game of Wingate's four-game winning streak. Bertrand had 16 points in Wingate's 65-46 victory over BYU Hawaii Dec. 18. Dunbar took top honors in a 59-48 New Year's Eve league victory over Anderson, posting 12 points. Tricoli matched her career-high with 22 points in a 66-63 SAC victory at Carson-Newman, snapping the Eagles' 11-game winning streak.
 
Lincoln Memorial dropped an 82-78 decision to Anderson Wednesday. LMU trailed the visiting AU Trojans by as many as 18 points before pulling within two at 76-74 with 45 seconds remaining. Anderson hit six-of-eight free throws in the waning moments, handing the host Railsplitters their fourth consecutive loss.
 
LMU junior guard Kiara Rawls (Killeen, Texas) leads the Railsplitters' active roster with her 10.9 points per game. The Lincoln Memorial playmaker also leads the team with her 63 assists. Sophomore guard Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) is next with 10.5 points per game. Senior guard Katrina Ottesen (Chandler, Ariz.) is the top long distance sharp-shooter in the SAC, as she has made 51.4 percent of her three-point field goals this season (18-of-35).
 
Lincoln Memorial won both games against Wingate last season. On Feb. 22, 2014, Wingate shot a season-low 26.5 percent from the floor in a 59-56 setback. On Jan. 11, 2014, LMU shot a season-best 86.4 percent from the foul line (19-of-22) to take a 75-71 SAC victory. Former Wingate graduate assistant coach Brooke Wilkinson is an assistant coach on the LMU staff.
 
The LMU contest is the second game in a stretch where the Bulldogs play four of five contests in Cuddy Arena. Wingate is on the road Wednesday, traveling to Queens for a 6 p.m. start. The 'Dogs return home next Saturday to host Tusculum at 2 p.m., while hosting Catawba the following Wednesday at 6 p.m.  
 
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, ranked as the 10th "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 72 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate's 72 Academic All-America® honorees are number one during this millennium. Wingate's 81 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.