Women's Basketball | 12/2/2016 5:28:00 PM

Mars Hill, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs venture west to the N.C. mountain region for a South Atlantic Conference women's basketball showdown against the Mars Hill University Lions Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is slated for a 2 p.m. start from Stanford Arena.
 
Wingate sits at 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the SAC. Mars Hill is 2-5 overall and 0-1 in conference action. "Every road game in the SAC is difficult," Wingate head coach Ann Hancock says. "We will need to bounce quickly from our last game to get prepared for Mars Hill."
 
Wingate Players to Watch
 
WU junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) leads the Bulldog statistical charts averaging a double-double with 16.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per contest. The Division I University of Texas El Paso transfer also has posted 18 blocked shots and four steals.
 
Sophomore guard/forward Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) is second on the WU team scoring list with 12.3 points, 7.5 boards and 2.5 points per game. The Hickory High School product adds to her statistical ledger with eight steals and four blocks.
 
Bulldog sophomore guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.) averages 10.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest. Averette also leads the 'Dogs with a 53.3 field goal percentage, along with her conference-leading 66.7 percent from three-point range. Senior guard and 2017 Allstate WBCA Good Works Team® nominee Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) has posted 8.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
 
Mars Hill Players to Watch
 
MHU senior guard Paige Chavis (Lexington, N.C.) leads all Lions scorers with 18 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. "Chavis is playing extremely well for them," Hancock says. "Our defensive effort will need to improve so we can try to limit her opportunities. We will need to continue to rebound the ball."
 
Freshman guard Aliyah Farmer (Salisbury, N.C.) ranks second on the MHU scoring charts, averaging a double-double with 11 points and 11.9 rebounds per contest. Senior guard Sydney Comer (Lebanon, Tenn.) has posted 8.6 points per game along with 2.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists through seven starts.
 
Lions freshman forward Jenny Edwards (Gainsville, Ga.) and freshman guard Madison Ervin (Morganton, N.C.) each have averaged 7.9 points through seven games. Edwards has also posted seven rebounds per contest and four steals on the season. Ervin averages 5.4 boards and 2.9 dimes through seven games with five starts.
 
Wingate Coaches
 
The Bulldogs are led by fifth-year head coach Ann Hancock ('92), who returned to the Wingate campus for the 2012-13 season to coach her alma mater. Hancock has compiled a 223-199 career record (UNC Wilmington and Wingate), including mentoring her WU team to a 24-6 overall record in 2013-14 and 21-9 mark a season ago during the 2015-16 campaign. Wingate won the SAC Tournament championship in both seasons. 
 
Prior to returning to her alma mater, Hancock spent two seasons as an assistant women's basketball coach at East Carolina University. Before her tenure with the Pirates, Hancock was head women's basketball coach at UNC Wilmington for 10 seasons and was an assistant coach for eight seasons at UNC Chapel Hill under legendary head coach Sylvia Hatchell. She helped the Tar Heels win the 1994 NCAA Division I National Championship. 
 
Hancock is assisted by new full-time assistant women's basketball coach Celeste Stewart, who spent her previous two seasons as a graduate assistant on the WU coaching staff. Stewart was a basketball student-athlete at East Carolina University. As a point guard for the ECU Pirates, Stewart was named to the first team All-C-USA as a senior. She will use her impressive basketball resume to help lead the Bulldogs to another successful season in 2016-17 and beyond. 
 
Katelyn Grisillo joined the Bulldog coach staff in the summer of 2016 after spending the previous two seasons as the point guard for the University of South Carolina Aiken Pacers. She started in 28 games her senior season. Prior to her arrival at USC Aiken, Grisillo was a student-athlete for the Division I Presbyterian College Blue Hose. Grisillo works with assistant coach Celeste Stewart and the post players.
 
Mars Hill Coaches
 
Mars Hill University head coach Jenny Finora begins her first season at the helm of the Lion women's basketball program after spending five years (2010-15) as the head coach for SAC rival the Coker College Cobras.
 
Under her leadership, Finora dramatically improved a Coker program which had won only two games prior to her first season. The Cobras steadily increased their win total for the next three seasons and put together three consecutive conference post-season tournament appearances.
 
Prior to her coaching tenure at Coker, Finora played one year as a professional player and coach in Iceland. She played for the KR Basketball Club of the Icelandic Premier League, while also coaching three of the KR Basketball Club's junior teams. Finora commenced her coaching career as the assistant coach and later interim head coach for the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers. She also has experience coaching at the high school level, along with serving as an instructor at various camps and clinics throughout the country.
 
Finora is assisted by assistant women's basketball coach Lise Lee, who was hired by MHU athletic department prior to the 2015-16 campaign. Lee arrived to the Mars Hill campus after previously serving as an assistant coach at the University of Charleston in Charleston, W.Va. Lee was also a former a women's basketball student-athlete for the Golden Eagles, earning All-American honors in 2005 and 2006.
 
Wingate's Last Game
 
The Wingate Bulldogs saw their three-game win streak come to an end Wednesday night after falling to the 23rd-ranked Newberry College Wolves by a final score of 72-63 in a SAC road match-up.
 
Danasia Witherspoon posted the first double-double of her sophomore campaign with 21 points (eight-of-15 shooting) and 12 total rebounds. Shelby Tricoli also contributed in the WU offensive attack, tying a season-high 15 points with three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
Wingate grabbed the early 1-0 lead with 9:07 in the first quarter, but the Wolves used a 7-0 mini- run to gain a 7-1 advantage at the 7:07 mark. Newberry led for the majority of the contest from this point forward.
 
Newberry maintained the 17-11 lead at the break between quarters; however, the number 23 Wolves sprinted out to their first double-digit advantage of the contest to make it a 21-11 game with 8:40 remaining in the second quarter. Wingate would trim the deficit down to seven points, but the hosts led by a nine-point margin of 34-25 at the halftime intermission.
 
In the second half of play, the Bulldogs trailed by 14 points but stormed back with a 9-0 rally to cut the margin down to a one-point game at 44-43 with 4:10 in the third quarter. The 'Dogs eventually tied the score for the first time in the contest at 49-49 with 8:59 to go and soon grabbed a 52-51 advantage their first lead of the second half at the 8:37 mark. Newberry took the lead for good at 54-52 and never looked back. The Wolves held on for the nine-point victory and extended their undefeated record.
 
Wingate outrebounded Newberry 43-31, while dominating 23-8 in the offensive rebound category. The Bulldogs posted a 67 percent shooting accuracy from three-point range compared to the Wolves' 58 percent from downtown. The 'Dogs also maintained the 7-6 advantage in total steals and 11-6 in second-chance points.
 
Mars Hill's Last Game
 
The MHU Lions played Wednesday evening on their home court, earning a 79-75 non-conference triumph over the Livingstone College Blue Bears with four Lions earning double-figures. Paige Chavis led the hosts with a stellar performance, posting a double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
 
Madison Ervin and Jenny Edwards each recorded a double-double performance. Ervin tallied a career-high 15 points and 10 boards, while Edwards compiled 12 points and 14 rebounds. Aliyah Farmer also joined the double-double brigade, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Mars Hill held on for the victory despite a furious comeback from Livingstone. MHU led by a commanding margin of 61-46 heading into the fourth quarter of play; however, the Blue Bears used a huge 16-2 run to trim the deficit down to 63-62. Minutes later, Livingstone took their first lead of the game at 67-65. Mars Hill then answered with a 9-0 mini run of their own to regain the advantage and put the game out of reach for the Blue Bears.
 
The Lions dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Blue Bears 66-39 in the contest. MHU also led 17-10 in the assists, while also maintaining the 18-12 edge in points off turnovers. Mars Hill also led 12-4 in fast-break points with 17 points being their largest lead of the game.
 
Last Season's Match-up
 
During the 2015-16 campaign, Wingate swept the two-game season series over Mars Hill. The Bulldogs defeated the Lions in a wild double-overtime thriller by a score of 106-103 in the first meeting from Stanford Arena on Dec. 5, 2015. The MHU triumph gave head coach Ann Hancock her 200th career victory as a head coach.
 
Tricoli led all WU scorers with a career-high 25 points in the victory, shooting 10-of-19 from the floor and three-of-five from three-point range. Bulldog guard Courtney Robinson (Taylors, S.C.) also posted a career-high 17 points, while adding four assists, three rebounds and four steals to her statistical ledger. Miscenko and Averette each contributed 10 points in the contest.
 
Wingate finished the 50-minute contest shooting 47.1 percent from the floor (41-of-87) with 72 points in the paint. The WU defense held Mars Hill to 39.5 percent shooting (34-of-86) with only 38 points in the paint.
 
In the second match-up from the friendly confines of Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court, the 'Dogs earned a dominant 79-55 victory with Robinson leading the hosts with 14 points on the evening. The match-up took place on Feb. 8, 2016.
 
WU guard Taziya Moody (Columbia, S.C.) finished second on the Bulldog scoring charts with 13 points and three steals. Wingate forward Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) and Witherspoon each added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Wingate posted a stellar 55.7 field goal percentage compared a 43.8 percent shooting performance from the visitors. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Lions 33-26 and held the 10-5 advantage in total steals.
 
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, consistently ranked as a top 10 "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,200 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 35 minors, 12 career concentrations, nine pre-professional programs, master's degrees in accounting, business, education, physician assistant studies and sport management and doctorates in education, pharmacy and physical therapy.
 
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 10 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 88 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate is number one in this millennium with 88 Academic All-America® honorees. Wingate is tops among all SAC schools with 97 lifetime Academic All-America® picks. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.
 
(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.)