Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) had 19 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots to lead the Bulldogs to a 75-51 South Atlantic Conference women's basketball victory over Brevard College Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Wingate enters the Christmas holidays 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the SAC. Brevard is 4-5 overall and 1-5 in the SAC.
 
WU sophomores Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) and Courtney Robinson (Taylors, S.C.) supported Miscenko's efforts with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Brevard senior forward/guard Madison Lenox (Raleigh, N.C.) led the Tornados with 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and three steals. BC sophomore guard AnnaLee Bollinger (Hickory, N.C.) added 14 points with a game-high three three-point field goals.
 
"Today was a good way to start out holiday break," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "It's always nice to end with a win and everyone getting the chance to play. Our rebounding effort was outstanding. We had as many offensive rebounds (22) as they had total (22). I thought we were very balanced offensively and made some really nice plays on the fast break."
 
In the first quarter of play, it was a tightly-contested battle between both squads. Brevard jumped out to the early 7-2 advantage at the 8:07 mark, but the Bulldogs used an 8-0 mini-run to take a 10-7 edge with 6:20 left in the stanza on a three-point jumper from senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.).
 
The Tornados answered with a three-point bucket of their own to knot the score at 10-10 with 4:42 remaining in the opening quarter. Wingate led by a narrow 18-15 margin with 30 seconds on the clock, but a Brevard three-point field goal from Bollinger made the score 18-18 at the break between quarters.
 
The league game remained a close contest in the second quarter of play with a 26-26 tie at the 5:33 mark. The 'Dogs put together an 11-3 run to end the stanza and grab the 38-29 advantage at the halftime intermission. Witherspoon led the hosts with 11 points, while Lenox topped the visitors' charts with 12 markers.
 
Wingate came out of the halftime break firing on all cylinders with a 13-0 run to sprint out to a commanding 22-point advantage at 51-29 with 3:37 remaining in the third quarter. Four players scored in the 13-0 flurry, led by Miscenko's seven points.  The 'Dogs led 55-34 with 2:54 on the clock, but the Tornados used a quick 8-0 run to trim the deficit down to 13 points and a 55-42 score with 1:15 remaining. The home team would settle for the 59-43 lead at the third quarter break.
 
Brevard cut the deficit to 59-46 with 65 seconds gone in the fourth frame. A Miscenko put-back hoop boosted Wingate's lead to 61-46 at the 7:59 plateau. The Tornados would get no closer the rest of the way. WU sophomore center Zasha Barrett (Monroe, N.C.) hit a follow shot at the 1:27 mark to settle the final margin and give the hosts their biggest lead of the afternoon.
 
The Bulldogs swept the BC Tornados in every major statistical category throughout the contest. Wingate outrebounded Brevard 51-22 while dominating 22-6 in offensive boards and 29-16 in the defensive rebound category. The 'Dogs led 14-0 in fast-break points, 12-3 in blocks, 20-8 in assists, 21-7 in points off turnovers and 17-8 in second-chance buckets. The hosts also outscored the visitors 52-18 in the paint. The WU bench outscored the Brevard reserves 29-6 in the contest.
 
The Wingate University women's basketball team is back in action on Thursday, Dec. 29 when the Bulldogs host the Chowan University Hawks in a non-conference showdown from Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Tip-off is slated for a 5 p.m. start. The Brevard College Tornados hit the road Dec. 30 to face the LaGrange College (Ga.) Panthers in a non-conference tilt scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
 
(Wingate University athletic media relations/sports network student assistant Jackson Kaplan contributed this article. A sophomore from Raleigh, Kaplan is a Communication Studies major at Wingate. He is the son of Harrison and Dona Kaplan.)