Women's Basketball | 2/5/2016 1:13:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's basketball team (10-8 overall, 7-7 SAC) will host Lincoln Memorial University (13-7 overall, 10-5 SAC) on Saturday, Feb. 6 in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. The Wingate University Sports Network will provide a live video stream via its partnership with ESPN3 (live video, live statistics). Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.
 
"LMU is always a tough match up for us," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "They play a lot of people which makes it difficult to scout them. They are playing well and have some people in their line-up now that didn't play the first time around or didn't play as much."
 
"Our roster is different from the first time we played them as well," Hancock says. "We need to focus on what we do well and take advantage of those parts of the game. Hopefully, we can continue to learn from being in so many close games. Our young players are getting great experience at time/score situations which should help us down the stretch."
 
On Dec. 16, Wingate junior forward Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) scored a Bulldog career-high 18 points (in 17 minutes) to lead the visitors to a 78-67 triumph over Lincoln Memorial in Tex Turner Arena. Rumplasch hit eight-of-11 field goals Wednesday, draining two-of-two from downtown.
 
Rumplasch led four Bulldogs in double figures. Wingate junior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) had 15 points. Senior forward Morgan McGee (Durham, N.C.) and freshman point guard Courtney Robinson (Taylors, S.C.) added 11 points and 10 points, respectively. McGee and Robinson posted seven rebounds each as Wingate outrebounded LMU 44-31.
 
Lincoln Memorial junior guard/forward Megan Pittman (Liberty, Ky.) posted a double-double with team-best totals of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Britney Guy (Locust Grove, Ga.) had 11 points, four assists and three rebounds.
 
The February Wingate/Lincoln Memorial matchup will see two of the top three SAC field goal shooters go head-to-head in a league clash. Bulldog freshman guard Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) continues her reign as the number one field goal shooter in the conference, converting 56.2 percent of her shots this season. LMU's Pittman is currently the SAC's number three-ranked field goal shooter with a 53.8 percent conversion rate.
 
Pittman is the top rebounder in the SAC, averaging 10 rebounds per game and totaling 200 on the season. The Railsplitters' offense also contains the number one three-point shooter in the conference in sophomore guard Ross Mathis (Greer, S.C.), who has converted 47.9 percent of her triples this season. Pittman and Guy are LMU's leading scorers, averaging 12.0 and 10.9 points per game, respectively.
 
Wingate's Witherspoon and McGee will lead the Bulldog offensive with their individual averages of 10.8 and 9.2 points per game, respectively. Rumplasch follows closely with her 9.1 points per game average. The fight off the glass will also rely heavily on Witherspoon and McGee, who lead the 'Dogs with 5.5 and 5.1 rebounds per game, respectively.
 
THIS AND THAT

When one eliminates Wingate's 77-29 SAC victory over Queens Jan. 20, the Bulldogs' eight 2016 contests have been decided by a total of 34 points (4.25 points per game). In order, Wingate's eight close 2016 games have been decided by eight points, one point, six points, four points, two points, three points, nine points and one point.
 
Most recently, Newberry rallied from 17-point deficits in the second and the third quarters to take a 62-61 SAC triumph over Wingate Wednesday night in Eleazer Arena. For the visiting Bulldogs, Witherspoon had 15 points, five rebounds and three steals. McGee and sophomore guard Taziya Moody (Columbia, S.C.) had 11 points each. Moody's 11 markers is a Wingate career-high point total for the Caldwell Community College transfer.
 
Wingate split the two meetings between the two schools last season. On Jan. 10, 2015, McGee posted 21 points to lead four players in double-figure points as the first-place Bulldogs earned an 88-65 home victory over Lincoln Memorial.
 
Bulldog graduate student forward Andrea Bertrand had 18 points and a team-best eight rebounds for the victors. Graduate student forward Chantal Dunbar ('14, '16) and Tricoli had 14 and 13 points, respectively. Dunbar pulled down seven boards as Wingate outrebounded LMU 40-32.
 
On Feb. 21, 2015, LMU finished the game on a 17-4 run to take a 63-60 victory over first-place Wingate at an almost-empty Tex Turner Arena (one foot of snow followed by ice fell on game day). Pittman netted 16 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. Guard Katrina Ottesen had a game-high 20 points.
 
For Wingate, guard Kelli Bonner ('15, '17) topped the Bulldog charts with 15 points. Bonner hit five three-point field goals in seven attempts. Dunbar and McGee added 13 points each. Dunbar recorded her 23rd career double-double with a team-best 11 rebounds.
 
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.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALUMNI DAY IS FEB. 13
 
Wingate University head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock ('92) and the Bulldog family announce the re-scheduling of the Wingate women's basketball Alumni Day for Saturday, Feb. 13. The Bulldogs will face South Atlantic Conference foe Brevard College as part of the festivities in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Tip-off for this contest is 2 p.m.
 
The day begins at 11 a.m. with a chance for the alumni to meet and greet the current team. The alumni will be served a catered lunch at 11:30 a.m. Both the meet-and-greet opportunity and the lunch will be held at the Jesse Helms Center in Wingate.
 
Campus tours will be available from 12:45 p.m. until 1:30 p.m. The Wingate Outfitters (bookstore) will be open as well. The Wingate women's basketball alumni will be recognized at halftime of the WU-BC game. The Bulldogs will also host their Play 4Kay (Pink Day) activities on Saturday, Feb. 13.
 
Alumni can register (and view an attendee list) at this link. For more details, please contact Ann Hancock via E-mail at a.hancock@wingate.edu or via phone at 704-233-8172. Hancock and her team look forward to celebrating the past, present and future accomplishments of the Wingate women's basketball alumni.
 
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 information to this article. Pruett is senior at Temple University, majoring in Sport and Recreation Management.)