Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's basketball team bolted to a 50-16 halftime lead and never looked back, taking a 79-55 South Atlantic Conference triumph over Mars Hill University Monday evening in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Wingate shot 66.7 percent from the field in first half (24-of-36).
With the wire-to-wire victory, Wingate improves to 12-8 overall and 9-7 in the SAC. The Bulldogs sweep the season series from the MHU Lions, as visiting Wingate earned a 106-103 double overtime triumph on Dec. 5 Mars Hill falls to 11-10 overall and 10-6 in the SAC.
Wingate senior forward
Morgan McGee (Durham, N.C.) and freshman guard
Courtney Robinson (Taylors, S.C.) posted 14 points each for the Bulldogs. Sophomore guard
Taziya Moody (Columbia, S.C.) had 13 points and three steals. WU junior forward
Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) and freshman guard/forward
Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) had 12 points and 10 points, respectively.
For Mars Hill, redshirt senior guard
Ansley Ricker (Greeneville, Tenn.) had game-high totals of 20 points and three three-point field goals. Lion senior center
Cadence Wilmoth (Glade Spring, Va.) had 18 points, four rebounds and six blocked shots. Ricker and Wilmoth shot 15-of-27 from the floor (55.6 percent). The remaining nine Lions who played posted a 28.6 field goal percentage (six-of-21).
Wingate made its first six shots of the contest to take a 12-6 lead when McGee hit a bucket on an assist from redshirt junior guard
Amber Neely (Charlotte, N.C.). The Bulldogs never trailed and built a 24-10 advantage after the opening 10 minutes. Robinson's seven points led the hosts in the opening frame, while senior forward
Kelsey Espinosa (Austin, Texas) had four markers for the visitors.
The Bulldogs converted 13-of-17 field goals in the second quarter (76.5 percent) to put the game out of reach. The Lions made only two-of-12 field goal attempts (16.7 percent) in the second stanza. The Lions had 11 first-half turnovers. Rumplasch and McGee led the 'Dogs with 12 points and 10 points, respectively, in the first half. Ricker topped the MHU charts with seven markers.
Mars Hill rallied in the third quarter, outscoring Wingate 29-15 in the third 10-minute period. Wilmoth had 12 points in the third frame, while Ricker added 10 markers. The Lions cut the deficit to 18 on two occasions, the second time on a Ricker lay-up with 37 seconds left to make the score 63-45 Bulldogs.
The visitors would get no closer down the stretch, as Wingate increased its lead to 28 points in the waning moments. The Bulldogs made a clean sweep of the five specialty statistical categories. Wingate outscored Mars Hill 48-18 in the paint. The Bulldog bench held a 33-2 scoring margin over the Lion substitutes. The Bulldogs converted 23 Lion turnovers into 22 points. The Lions scored 17 points from 13 Bulldog miscues. Wingate completed the five-for-five sweep with a 10-5 advantage in second-chance points and a 20-10 edge in fast-break points.
Wingate outrebounded Mars Hill 33-26. Witherspoon led the hosts with six rebounds. Espinosa and redshirt junior forward
Genice Lane (Winston-Salem, N.C.) had five rebounds each for the MHU Lions. The Bulldogs had 25 assists on 34 made baskets, while the Lions had 12 assists on 21 field goals.
The Bulldogs will hit the road for their next match-up against Queens University of Charlotte Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in the Curry Arena. Wingate won the first contest between the two schools 77-29. Mars Hill will return home and prepare for its next game against Brevard Wednesday. The contest will begin at 6 p.m. in Stanford Arena.
