Women's Basketball | 1/15/2016 1:00:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's basketball team (9-4 overall, 6-3 SAC) will face perhaps its toughest challenge yet Saturday, as they travel to Anderson, S.C. to play the nationally-ranked Trojans of Anderson University (11-1 overall, 9-0 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference action (2 p.m. tip). Anderson enters the contest ranked number 14 in the nation.
 
"Anderson has all the ingredients for a championship team," Wingate's head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. Anderson senior forward Jennifer Monroe (Clemson, S.C.) currently leads the Trojan squad in scoring and rebound; her 10 rebounds per game places her second on the SAC list. "Jennifer Monroe is one of the most improved players I have seen over the course of her career" coach Hancock says.
 
Wingate junior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) and freshman guard Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) will lead the Bulldogs Saturday, as each student-athlete averages 10.5 points per game. Senior forward Morgan McGee (Durham, N.C.) will also look to put in work as she currently maintains her average at 10.1 points per game.
 
"Defense and rebounding will be keys for us," Hancock says. "We will have to limit their transition and second-chance opportunities along with finding their shooters." The Bulldogs will look to their leading rebounders Witherspoon (6.1 per game) and McGee (5.7 per game) in order to win the battle of the boards.
 
Anderson currently ranks second in the SAC in rebounds per game, with an average of 44.3. Wingate follows closely behind in third with an average of 42.8 rebounds per game. Both teams will look to establish their dominance on the glass Saturday.
 
The Bulldogs currently top the SAC charts in field goal percentage (43.4 percent), while Anderson stands in fifth on the same list (41.5 percent).  Witherspoon currently leads Wingate in field goal percentage, as she has converted 54.2 percent of her field goal attempts this season (58-of-107).
 
Hancock is 4-2 against Anderson throughout her three-plus year tenure with the Bulldogs. "We are looking forward to facing Anderson on Saturday," Hancock says. "They have a talented squad who is playing great basketball."
 
Last season, the two teams met twice with each winning a home contest. On Dec. 31, 2014, the Bulldogs rang in the New Year with 59-48 home victory. Wingate completed the game on a 17-3 run, knocking Anderson from the ranks of the South Atlantic Conference unbeaten teams. Bulldog graduate student post players Chantal Dunbar and Andrea Bertrand combined for 23 points and 17 rebounds for the victors.
 
On Feb. 7, 2015, Anderson won the battle of the number one and number two teams in the SAC by taking a 68-57 victory over visiting Wingate at the Abney Athletic Center. The AU Trojans snapped the Bulldogs' 12-game winning streak. Wingate had won 14 consecutive league games prior to the February set-back.
 
For Anderson, Monroe had 14 points. The AU Trojans outrebounded the Bulldogs 41-31, winning the rebounding war both times as the two teams split the season series. For Wingate, post players Bertrand and McGee led the visitors with 15 points each. Tricoli contributed 11 points.
 
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 82 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate's 82 Academic All-America® honorees are number one during this millennium. Wingate's 91 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.
 
(Wingate University athletics intern Phillip Pruett, Jr. contributed this article. Pruett is senior at Temple University, majoring in Sport and Recreation Management.)