Wingate, N.C. ----Wingate University junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) and senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) combined for 39 points on 16-of-28 shooting (57 percent) to lead the Bulldogs to a 71-56 NCAA Division II victory over the Chowan University Hawks from Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court Thursday evening. Wingate improves to 7-3 overall. Chowan has its three-game win streak snapped and is now 10-3 overall on the season.
Wingate outscored Chowan 26-11 in the pivotal fourth quarter. "Today was a good win for us against a very talented team," Wingate head coach Ann Hancock says. "We did not play our best basketball, but ended the game on a nice run. Chowan plays a fast-paced, helter skelter-type game that made us speed up and turn the ball over."
Miscenko posted her sixth double-double of her breakout 2016-17 campaign with 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the WU scoring attack. Miscenko also added seven blocks to her statistical ledger. Tricoli tallied a season-high 17 points with four assists and three boards. Wingate sophomore guard/forward Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) had her third double-double performance of the season with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Bulldogs outrebounded Chowan 50-46, while maintaining the dominant 19-8 edge in the assist category. Wingate outscored the visitors 50-26 in the paint and led 20-19 in points off turnovers. The 'Dogs shot 46.6 percent from the floor (27-of-58 shooting), while the WU defense held the Hawks to only 27.2 percent shooting (22-of-81).
Wingate jumped out to the early 7-2 lead with 5:19 left in the opening quarter. Chowan would not get any closer than three points in the first stanza with the Bulldogs' largest lead coming at 13-7 with 1:19 on the clock. The hosts led by a score of 13-9 at the break between quarters.
The Bulldogs grabbed their biggest advantage of the first half at eight points with a score of 17-9 with 9:30 to go in the second quarter of play. Chowan cut the score down to a two-point deficit at 21-19 at the 5:23 mark with Wingate not leading by any more than four points for the remainder of the stanza. The 'Dogs maintained the narrow 30-28 advantage at the halftime intermission.
Chowan tied the score for the first time in the contest at 33-33 with 7:17 left in the third stanza and took its first lead of the game on a two-point jumper from sophomore forward Danielle Weldon (Glen Allen, Va.) at the 6:32 mark. A total of three ties and four lead changes would follow with Chowan taking the 43-42 lead with 3:05 to go in the third quarter.
The Hawks had their biggest advantage of the contest leading by a score of 45-42 with 2:02 remaining in the third stanza. Wingate soon knotted the score up at 45-45 with 24 seconds left and the score would remain intact heading into the final quarter.
Wingate trailed 50-47 with 8:52 remaining in the fourth stanza, but a lay-up and free throw from WU sophomore guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.) tied the score at 50-50 at the 8:23 mark. Chowan snatched the 52-50 advantage at the eight-minute mark; however, the Bulldogs used a huge 10-3 mini-run to extend their advantage out to 60-53 with 5:36 on the clock.
The Bulldogs held the lead for the remainder of the quarter with their first double-digit advantage coming with 2:23 remaining at 66-54. The home team led by a double-digit margin for the rest of the contest. Wingate took its biggest lead of the game at 16 points with 46 seconds left and a 70-54 score.
Chowan senior forward Jordan Payne (Norfolk, Va.) led the visiting Hawks with 17 points and eight rebounds. Junior forward Dhyamond Crenshaw (Burke, Va.) finished second on the Hawks' scoring charts with nine points and five boards.
"Hopefully this game week prepares us for future contests down the road," Hancock says. "Marta, Danasia and Shelby did some nice things for us. Senior guard Alex Tomlinson's (Raleigh, N.C.) contributions cannot be measured on the stat sheet, but she keeps us organized and under control."
The Wingate University women's basketball is back in action Saturday afternoon for a New Year's Eve non-conference showdown versus the USC Aiken Pacers for a 1:30 p.m. tip-off. Chowan travels to Charlotte for a conference match-up against Johnson C. Smith University on Jan. 5 for a 5:30 p.m. start.
(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.)
