Women's Basketball | 1/24/2017 12:41:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.-----The Wingate University women's basketball team seeks to gain more ground in the South Atlantic Conference standings when the Bulldogs travel to Lenoir-Rhyne University to face the Bears in a SAC rivalry showdown from the Shuford Memorial Gymnasium Wednesday evening. Tip-off is slated for a 6 p.m. start with the live audio broadcast being aired on the Wingate Sports Network.
 
Wingate currently sits at 13-4 overall and 9-3 in the SAC. Lenoir-Rhyne is 12-6 overall and 8-4 in conference play. The Bulldogs are in a four-way tie for second place in the SAC standings with Anderson, Catawba and Carson-Newman. The 'Dogs sit behind first-place, undefeated and NCAA Division II number six Lincoln Memorial (17-0, 9-0 SAC). The LRU Bears are riding a four-game win streak entering the contest.
 
Wingate Players to Watch
 
Wingate junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) continues to lead the Bulldog scoring attack, averaging a double-double with 15.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Miscenko has also posted a 50.4 percent field goal clip on the season.
 
The University of Texas El Paso transfer ranks high in the SAC individual standings in multiple categories including fifth in points per game, second in rebounds per contest, first in blocked shots (49), first in total offensive rebounds (75), second in total rebounds (177) and third in defensive boards (102). Miscenko has tallied double-digit points in 16 out of 17 total starts with 10 double-double performances.
 
Sophomore forward/guard Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) is second on the WU scoring charts, averaging 13.2 points and seven rebounds per contest. Witherspoon ranks eighth overall in the SAC with her 50.9 field goal percentage and is sixth in the offensive rebound category with 53 total. The Hickory High School graduate is also sixth in the conference with 28 total steals and eighth with her average rebound total.
 
WU sophomore guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.) and senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) average 8.8 and 8.2 points per game, respectively. Averette continues to hold the second spot in the SAC individual standings with her 50 percent shooting percentage from three-point range. Senior forward Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) has contributed 6.6 points through 17 games.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne Players to Watch
 
LRU sophomore forward Madi Suddreth (Taylorsville, N.C.) leads the Bears with 11.7 points and pulls down 4.3 rebounds per game. Senior center Chelsey Romero (Hampton, Va.) also averages double figures with 10.7 markers and a team-best 7.2 rebounds per contest. Romero ranks fifth in the SAC with a 53 percent shooting percentage on the season.
 
Senior forward Brooke Robinson (Vale, N.C.) is third on the Lenoir-Rhyne scoring charts, averaging 7.8 points and 4.9 boards through 18 games played. Senior forward Morgan Cooper (Virginia Beach, Va.) and junior guard Justyce Swango (Virginia Beach, Va.) have added 5.8 and 5.6 points on the season, respectively.
 
Wingate Coaches
 
The Bulldogs are led by fifth-year head coach Ann Hancock ('92), who returned to the Wingate campus for the 2012-13 season to coach her alma mater. Hancock has compiled a 231-200 career record (UNC Wilmington and Wingate), including mentoring her WU team to a 24-6 overall record in 2013-14 and 21-9 mark a season ago during the 2015-16 campaign. Wingate won the SAC Tournament championship in both seasons. 
 
Prior to returning to her alma mater, Hancock spent two seasons as an assistant women's basketball coach at East Carolina University. Before her tenure with the Pirates, Hancock was head women's basketball coach at UNC Wilmington for 10 seasons and was an assistant coach for eight seasons at UNC Chapel Hill under legendary head coach Sylvia Hatchell. She helped the Tar Heels win the 1994 NCAA Division I National Championship. 
 
Hancock is assisted by new full-time assistant women's basketball coach Celeste Stewart, who spent her previous two seasons as a graduate assistant on the WU coaching staff. Stewart was a basketball student-athlete at East Carolina University. As a point guard for the ECU Pirates, Stewart was named to the first team All-C-USA as a senior. She will use her impressive basketball resume to help lead the Bulldogs to another successful season in 2016-17 and beyond. 
 
Katelyn Grisillo joined the Bulldog coach staff in the summer of 2016 after spending the previous two seasons as the point guard for the University of South Carolina Aiken Pacers. She started in 28 games her senior season. Prior to her arrival at USC Aiken, Grisillo was a student-athlete for the Division I Presbyterian College Blue Hose. Grisillo works with assistant coach Celeste Stewart and the post players.
 
Lenoir-Rhyme Coaches
 
The LRU women's basketball program is mentored by second-year head coach Katie Pate, who returned to the Bears after spending time as an assistant coach at Division I Georgia State University in Atlanta, Ga. Prior to her tenure with the GSU Panthers, Pate spent four seasons on the LRU coaching staff as both an assistant coach and associate head coach.
 
Pate led Lenoir-Rhyne to one of its best seasons in school history during the 2013-14 campaign.  The Bears finished with a 24-7 slate and won a share of the South Atlantic Conference regular season title. In addition, LRU hosted the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament.
 
She began her coaching career as an assistant coach for her alma mater the Coker College Cobras from 1998-99, before moving up to Division I USC Upstate (1999-01). Pate has six years of head coaching experience at the Division II level, leading Coker (2001-05) and the Belmont Abbey College Crusaders (2005-07). She also served the 2009-10 season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Wingate Bulldogs.
 
Pate is assisted by first-year assistant coach Brad Mangum, who arrives at LRU after serving as the head coach for the Alexander Central High School women's basketball program in Taylorsville, N.C. for three seasons (2013-16). He also mentored the Fred T. Foard High School women's basketball team from 2011 to 2013.
 
Two other first-year assistant coaches join the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears in 2016-17 with Brooklyn Cartwright and LaSashia Connelly. Cartwright is a 2016 graduate of Division I Georgia Southern University, where she served as a student assistant coach all four years of her undergraduate career (2012-16). Connelly was an assistant coach for the varsity women's basketball at Jimmy C. Draughn High School in Valdese, N.C. prior to arriving at LRU. She was also a four-year women's basketball student-athlete at Salem College.
 
Wingate's Last Game
 
The Wingate Bulldogs put on their best offensive performance of the 2016-17 campaign, scoring a season-high 97 points in route to a dominant 97-46 SAC victory over the Mars Hill University from the friendly confines of Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court Saturday. Danasia Witherspoon tallied a season-high 22 points with five rebounds to lead the Bulldogs.
 
WU junior center Marta Miscenko scores double-digit points for the 16th time in 17 starts this season with 15 markers and seven rebounds. Senior guard Shelby Tricoli contributed 14 points, while senior forward Kristina Rumplasch added 10 points. Junior guard Taziya Moody (Columbia, S.C.) and sophomore forward Zasha Barrett (Monroe, N.C.) notched a season-high and a season-high tying nine points each for the hosts.
 
The Bulldogs swept every major statistical category, outrebounding Mars Hill 43-25 and maintaining the dominant 25-4 edge in total assists. Wingate outscored MHU 55-22 in the paint, while the WU bench outscored the Lion reserves 39-18 in the contest. The 'Dogs converted 24 points off 23 Mars Hill turnovers and won 15-10 in fast-break points.
 
Wingate shot a season-high 55.7 percent (34-of-61) from the floor, while the WU defense held Mars Hill to only 29.1 percent shooting (16-of-55). The Bulldogs hit five-of-nine shots from three-point range (55.6 percent). The Lions were only two-of-13 (15.4 percent shooting) from beyond the arc.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne's Last Game
 
The LRU Bears earned their fourth consecutive victory with 64-51 conference road triumph over the Brevard College Tornados. Three Bears posted double figures in the contest with Chelsey Romero leading the way with 20 points and six rebounds. Romero also shot an impressive 64.3 percent from the floor (nine-of-14).
 
Justyce Swango tallied 11 markers on four-of-seven shooting (57.1 percent) and six boards, while Brooke Robinson contributed 10 points with five rebounds and two assists. Morgan Cooper scored seven points on 50 percent shooting (three-of-six) in the contest.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the field compared to Brevard's 39.2 percent shooting performance (20-of-51). The Bears outrebounded Brevard 32-25, while maintaining the slight 9-8 edge in the assist category. LRU outscored Brevard 42-18 in the paint with the Bears' bench dominating the Tornado reserves 14-0. The Bears converted 15 points off 15 Brevard turnovers.
 
Last Meeting
 
The Wingate Bulldogs faced Lenoir-Rhyne in the 2016-17 conference/home opener and defeated their SAC rivals by a final score of 58-42 from Cuddy Arena. Marta Miscenko and Caroline Averette posted 15 points each to lead the charge. Miscenko hauled-in 10 rebounds for her (then) third double-double performance of the young season. Danasia Witherspoon and Kristina Rumplasch added six points each with Witherspoon adding six boards to her statistical ledger.
 
The Bulldogs shot 40 percent (22-of-55) from the field with the WU defense holding LRU to only 32.3 percent shooting (20-of-62) in the contest. The Bears finished 0-of-14 from three-point range with Wingate shooting 37.5 percent (three-of-eight) from beyond the arc.
 
Wingate swept every major statistical category, outrebounding Lenoir-Rhyne 40-38 and leading 15-7 in total assists. The Bulldogs outscored the Bears 36-28 in the paint, while converting 16 points off 15 LRU turnovers. The WU bench slightly edged the LRU substitutes by a 17-14 margin. Wingate led 19-18 in second-chance buckets.
 
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, consistently ranked as a top 10 "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,200 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 35 minors, 12 career concentrations, nine pre-professional programs, master's degrees in accounting, business, education, physician assistant studies and sport management and doctorates in education, pharmacy and physical therapy.
 
With a 14 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 10 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 88 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate is number one in this millennium with 88 Academic All-America® honorees. Wingate is tops among all SAC schools with 97 lifetime Academic All-America® picks. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.
 
(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.)