Women's Basketball | 2/16/2016 7:43:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's basketball team (14-8 overall, 10-7 SAC) is on the road to Hartsville, S.C. Wednesday where they will tip-off against the Coker College Cobras (9-15 overall, 8-10 SAC) at 6 p.m. "They're good at putting people in positions that utilize their strengths, so we'll have to have a really good defensive effort and play screening situations correctly," Bulldog head coach Ann Hancock says.
 
When the two teams previously met in early January, freshman guard Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) posted a double-double on the night, scoring 10 points and snagging 11 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs in a 61-60 home victory over the Cobras.
 
Witherspoon is currently ranked fifth in the South Atlantic Conference with her field goal conversion rate of 51.7 percent. She averages 10 points per game; the Hickory High graduate will lead alongside senior forward Morgan McGee (Durham, N.C.), who averages 10.2 points per game.
 
The two also top the Bulldog charts coming off the glass, as Witherspoon averages 5.3 rebounds per game and McGee contributes a 5.0 rebounding average. Wingate will also look for junior forward/center Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) to put in work as well with her average of 9.2 points per game. Rumplasch is ranked sixth in the conference behind Witherspoon, as the Cape Fear Community College transfer converts 50.9 percent of her field goal attempts.
 
Coker will likely rely heavily on senior guard Jazz Green (Darlington, S.C.), who ranks third in the SAC in total points (344) and averages 14.3 points per game. She also is currently ranked third in the SAC for her 9.3 rebounding average, accumulating a total of 220 boards this season (second in the SAC). Senior forward Terrika Foster (Spartanburg, S.C.) will follow Green's lead as she averages 6.0 rebounds per game.
 
"Jazz Green is a really tough player who can be hard to stop," Hancock says. "She is great on the boards and finds a way to score. We'll have to do a really good job of guarding her."
 
The battle for the quickest hands will be between Green and Wingate's Witherspoon, who are both ranked top five in the SAC for steals this season. Green has recorded 60 takeaways on the year, compared to Witherspoon's 40. Both teams will need to bring precision in their passing game to avoid the thefts by these two student-athletes.
 
THIS AND THAT
 
Wingate won both meetings between the two schools last season. On Jan. 28, 2015, Wingate led wire-to-wire on the way to a 71-44 SAC victory in Hartsville. Wingate graduate student forward Chantal Dunbar ('14, '16) led the way with 16 points. Tricoli contributed 15 points. Reigning SAC Player of Week and WU graduate student forward Andrea Bertrand had 13 points and nine rebounds, while guard Kelli Bonner ('15, '17) posted 10 points.
 
Dunbar posted her 22nd career double-double with 12 points and a game-high 15 rebounds on Feb. 18, 2015, helping the first-place Bulldogs to a 72-68 SAC triumph over Coker in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Wingate earned its 19th victory of the season with the victory. Hancock is 5-0 overall against Coker in her three-plus-year reign as Wingate's head coach.
 
The Bulldogs lead the SAC with 13 appearances in the NCAA Division II national tournament. Wingate has an overall NCAA tourney record of 15-14 with Elite Eight appearances in 1995, 1996 and 2008. The Bulldogs have won 11 SAC regular season crowns and seven Food Lion SAC tournament championships. Wingate finished second in the SAC regular season standings last year.

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.)