Charlotte, N.C.----Wingate University junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) tallied her tenth double-double performance of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Bulldogs earn a convincing 65-51 South Atlantic Conference women's basketball victory over the Queens University of Charlotte Royals from The Levine Center Wednesday evening.
 
Wingate improves to 12-4 overall and 8-3 in the SAC. Queens is now 4-12 overall and 4-7 in conference play. The Wingate Bulldogs return to action this Saturday for a key SAC encounter versus Mars Hill from Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Tip-off is slated for a 2 p.m. start with the contest airing live on ESPN3. Queens travels south to face the Anderson Trojans in a conference battle on the same day and time.
 
"The game tonight was a nice bounce-back from Saturday's game," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "The players have worked hard the last few days to correct some of the things we did not do well against Anderson. Our bench came in and provided a spark. We started slowly, but the bench came in and got us going."
 
Two other Bulldogs posted double figures with senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) and senior forward Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) contributing 11 points each. Rumplasch compiled a perfect five-for-five shooting percentage from the floor. Tricoli shot 75 percent from three-point range (three-of-four). Sophomore guard/forward Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) added nine points for the visitors.
 
The Bulldogs nearly swept every major statistical category in the contest, outrebounding Queens 36-24. The 'Dogs dominated the offensive boards by a convincing margin of 14-3. Wingate outscored Queens 40-26 in the paint, while the WU bench outscored the Royals substitutes 23-4.
 
Queens senior forward/center Maggie Stewart (Otto, N.C.) led the home scoring efforts with 12 points, three rebounds and four assists. Stewart also posted a near flawless shooting percentage, finishing six-of-seven from the field (86 percent). Senior guard/forward Sarah Henson (Sylva, N.C.) fell short of a double-double with 11 points and seven boards. Senior guard McKell Oliverio (Florence, Ky.) and junior guard Mendy McNeese (Greeneville, Tenn.) added nine points each.
 
Wingate led by a score of 11-4 on a lay-up from Witherspoon with 3:18 left on the first quarter clock. Another basket from Witherspoon gave the Bulldogs their first double-digit advantage of the contest at 14-4 with 2:08 to go. The 'Dogs led by a double-digit margin for the remainder of the stanza and throughout the majority of the contest. Wingate maintained an 18-7 advantage at the break between quarters.
 
Queens would not get any closer than nine points in the second quarter as a two-point jumper from Stewart trimmed the deficit down to 22-13 at the 6:03 mark. Wingate answered with a three-pointer from Tricoli to extend the WU lead to 25-13 with 5:43 on the clock. A lay-up from Witherspoon gave the 'Dogs their largest advantage of the half at 16 points (29-13) with 3:50 remaining. The Bulldogs led 29-18 at the halftime intermission.
 
A basket from Royals junior guard/forward Cheyenne Logan (Asheville, N.C.) cut the Wingate advantage down to nine at 33-24 with 7:03 in the third stanza, but a lay-up from WU graduate student guard Amber Neely (Charlotte, N.C.) gave the visitors a 35-24 lead. A jumper from Rumplasch gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead of the contest at 50-29 with 1:46 remaining. Wingate led by a score of 52-35 entering the final quarter on a buzzer-beating lay-up from Miscenko. The 'Dogs shot 55 percent as a team in the frame.
 
Queens would not get any closer than 14 points in the fourth frame as the Bulldogs collected the victory. "Our free throws were much better tonight," Hancock says. "Queens' offense is very difficult to defend, but I thought we did a good job for the most part. All road wins are crucial."
 
The 'Dogs also finished 10-of-12 from the charity stripe (83 percent). Wingate shot 43.3 percent from the floor (26-of-60) compared to Queens' 44.2 percent field goal clip (19-of-43). The Bulldogs compiled eight steals and four blocks, while converting 10 points off 15 Royal turnovers. The hosts finished 10-0 in fast-break points and 14-4 in second-chance buckets.
 
(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.)