Women's Basketball | 12/7/2015 8:12:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's basketball team (3-1 overall, 2-0 SAC) hosts Newberry College (3-4 overall, 2-0 SAC) for Future Bulldog Day Tuesday in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Tip-off for the South Atlantic Conference contest is slated for 12 noon.
 
The Newberry contest marks the fourth annual Future Bulldog Day, an event for local fifth-grade students to visit the Wingate campus for a day and enjoy tours, motivational speakers and NCAA Division II basketball. The University expects almost 1000 students and chaperones Tuesday. The first Future Bulldog Day was Dec. 19, 2012, when Wingate hosted Lander University.
 
"Future Bulldog Day is one of the most exciting days of the year for us," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "Having the fifth graders on campus to see the opportunities that exist through education is truly special. We feel it is a win-win situation for everyone. It's a wonderful game atmosphere for the players and hopefully a tremendous experience for the fifth graders."
 
After opening the 2015-16 season with a narrow road loss to USC Aiken, the Wingate Bulldogs have won three games in a row. On Saturday, Wingate put together a huge 8-0 run in the second overtime to claim a 106-103 double overtime SAC triumph over Mars Hill. The MHU Lions rallied from a 17-point fourth quarter deficit to force extra time.
 
The road triumph gives Hancock 200 career victories. The Wingate All-American guard won 138 games at UNC Wilmington (in 10 seasons). Hancock has 62 triumphs in four seasons at her alma mater.
 
Wingate junior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) posted a career-high 25 points for the visitors. She hit 10-of-19 field goals with three-of-five accuracy from three-point land. Bulldog freshman point guard Courtney Robinson (Taylors, S.C.) also notched a career-high with 17 points. She added four assists, three rebounds and three steals to her statistical ledger Saturday.
 
Wingate sophomore center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) and freshman guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.) added 10 points each. Miscenko had eight points (on four-of-four field goal shooting) in the pivotal second overtime, posting a career-high point total in only her fourth game in the Wingate Navy Blue and Vegas Gold. Thirteen Bulldogs saw action Saturday with 12 finding the scoring column.
 
Newberry rallied for a 73-69 SAC road victory over number 21 Carson-Newman Saturday afternoon. Reigning SAC Player of the Week and redshirt senior guard/forward Samantha Creed (Melbourne, Australia) led four players in double digits with her 19 points. Redshirt senior guard Emily Perry (Nambour, Qld, Australia) had 16 points, while sophomore point guard Nicola Handreck (Heywood, Vic, Australia) and freshman guard Shelby Britten (Shepparton, Vic, Australia) added 14 points and 11 points, respectively.
 
"Newberry will be a difficult challenge," Hancock says. "They have a combination of experience and youth that blend well together to form a great inside-outside attack. They look like they have picked up right where they left off last season. They will be tough to stop. We will need to execute on both ends of the floor."
 
Wingate won both games against Newberry last season. On Feb. 4, Wingate opened the second half on a 28-7 run on the way to a 67-51 SAC home victory over Newberry. The win gave the Bulldogs 12 consecutive triumphs and 14 straight league victories.
 
For Wingate, graduate student forward Chantal Dunbar ('14, '16) had team-high totals of 15 points and seven rebounds. Tricoli added 14 points, while guard Kelli Bonner ('15) had 11 points on the strength of a game-high three three-point field goals.
 
For Newberry, Handreck and senior guard Colleen Leung (James Island, S.C.) posted 10 points each. The visiting Wolves shot 29.6 percent from the floor (eight-of-27) in the pivotal second half.
 
On Feb. 25, Dunbar posted her 24th career double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds to lift the visiting Bulldogs to a 68-60 SAC win at Newberry. Wingate point guard Brittany Hill ('15) added a career-high 13 points for the visiting Bulldogs. Wingate collected its 20 victory of the season with the road conquest.
 
Wingate senior forward Morgan McGee (Durham, N.C.) had 11 points off the Bulldog bench, helping the WU reserves outscore their Newberry counterparts 19-7. Newberry forward Hayley Lepaio (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) had a game-high 19 points for the host Wolves. She pulled down 10 rebounds. Junior forward/guard Jaya Schultz (Santa Clarita, Calif.) added 11 points and five rebounds for the hosts.

Both teams host SAC home games this weekend. Wingate entertains Tusculum Sunday for a 2 p.m. contest. Newberry welcomes defending league champion Anderson to Eleazer Arena Saturday for a 2 p.m. encounter.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, consistently ranked as a top 10 "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,100 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, master's degrees in business, accounting, education, physician assistant studies and sport management and doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy and education.
 
With a 15 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 nine 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 81 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate's 81 Academic All-America® honorees are number one during this millennium. Wingate's 90 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.