Women's Basketball | 2/17/2015 8:33:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's basketball team looks to earn its 10th South Atlantic Conference home victory of the season Wednesday, as the Bulldogs host Coker College for a 6 p.m. South Atlantic Conference contest in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. First-place Wingate (18-7 overall, 16-2 SAC) has not lost a SAC home contest this season (9-0). Coker enters Wednesday night's match-up 10-14 overall and 6-12 in the SAC.
 
On Saturday, Wingate shot a season-best 54.2 percent from the floor en route to a 78-51 SAC home victory over Carson-Newman. WU sophomore guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) led five Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points. Bulldog graduate student post players Andrea Bertrand (Midlothian, Va.) and Chantal Dunbar (Virginia Beach, Va.) combined for 27 points and 17 rebounds.
 
Bertrand had her first double-double as a Bulldog, scoring 14 points and pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds. She had nine defensive rebounds Saturday. Dunbar had 13 points and seven rebounds. Bulldog junior forward Morgan McGee (Durham, N.C.) and redshirt senior point guard Brittany Hill (Mechanicsville, Va.) had 12 points and 10 points, respectively.
 
On Jan. 28, Wingate led wire-to-wire en route to a 71-44 SAC road triumph over Coker in the DeLoach Center. For Wingate, Dunbar led the way with 16 points. Tricoli contributed 15 points. Bertrand had 13 points and a team-best nine rebounds, while senior guard Kelli Bonner (Yadkinville, N.C.) posted 10 points.
 
Coker senior guard Tanesha Stenson (Nashville, Tenn.) led the hosts with eight points and six rebounds in the January contest. Freshman guard Sydney Shull (Irmo, S.C.) and sophomore forward Lyric Levester (Jacksonville, N.C.) had seven points each.
 
Bulldog fans will long remember the last February meeting between Wingate and Coker, as WU junior guard Amber Neely (Charlotte, N.C.) hit a floater at the buzzer to give the visiting Bulldogs a 54-52 SAC overtime triumph over Coker at Timberlake-Lawton Gymnasium on Feb. 19, 2014. Neely's steal with 3.9 seconds left in the extra frame gave Wingate the opportunity to take the victory.
 
Wingate and Anderson (19-3 overall, 16-2 SAC) are tied for first place in the SAC standings with four games remaining in the regular season. Coker is one game behind Mars Hill (9-14 overall, 7-11 SAC) and Lenoir-Rhyne (8-14 overall, 7-11 SAC) for the eighth and final spot in the SAC post-season tournament.
 
Dunbar leads the Bulldogs with 11.5 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game. She is second on the SAC rebounding charts (behind Newberry senior center Haylee Lepaio). McGee (10.9 points per game) and Tricoli (10.6 points per game) support Dunbar's efforts by contributing double-figure points. Bertrand adds 9.9 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game.
 
Hill leads the league with her 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. Tricoli is second in the SAC (behind Lincoln Memorial freshman guard Shea Coker) in three-point field goal percentage, as she has converted 48.5 percent of her triples this season. Tricoli has 49 made three-pointers this year, second on the WU team charts to Bonner's 53. The Bulldog backcourt duo has made 102 of Wingate's 118 three-point field goals this season.
 
Stenson leads Coker with her 14.7 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game. She is the only Cobra who averages double-figure points. Coker senior forward Kelley Godbout (Matthews, N.C.) and senior guard Hailey Yohn (Durham, N.C.) contribute 8.0 points per game and 7.9 points per game, respectively. Godbout is a local product who played her high school hoops for head coach (and Wingate alum) Ina Thompson at Porter Ridge High School.
 
PURPLE OUT: Wingate fans are asked to wear purple in support of Relay for Life Wednesday night. The Wingate University Relay for Life committee will be on-site to pass out purple items, sign up teams and play games at halftime to get students and fans excited for Relay for Life. This year's event is Friday and Saturday, April 10-11.
 
WBCA AWARD WINNERS: Two recent WBCA award winners will be in the house Wednesday night. Wingate senior guard Jasmine DeBerry (Charlotte, N.C.) is one of 10 student-athletes named to the 2015 Allstate Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Good Works Team®. Coker's Yohn is going to participate in the WBCA's "So You Want to be a Coach" program. Both DeBerry and Yohn will attend the 2015 WBCA Convention and the 2015 NCAA Women's Final Four® in Tampa.
 
ON THE HORIZON: The Coker game ends a three-game home stand for the Bulldogs. Wingate visits Lincoln Memorial Saturday (2 p.m.) and Newberry Wednesday, Feb. 25 (6 p.m.). The Bulldogs will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 28, hosting Brevard for a 2 p.m. match-up. In addition to Bertrand, Bonner, DeBerry, Dunbar and Hill, Wingate will honor forward Brooklyn Boston (Lenoir, N.C.) on Senior Day.
 
Coker visits Anderson Saturday (2 p.m.) before playing its final two games of the regular season at home: Lenoir-Rhyne (Wednesday, Feb. 25) and Tusculum (Saturday, Feb. 28).
 
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.