Hickory, N.C.----Wingate University sophomore forward/guard Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) led all scorers with a season-high 25 points on nine-of-12 shooting (75 percent) to boost the Bulldogs to a 68-52 come-from-behind victory over the Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball from Shuford Memorial Gymnasium on the LRU campus. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as eight points in the second quarter before beginning their comeback trail and ending Lenoir-Rhyne's 15-game home win streak.

Wingate rolls to its third consecutive win, improving to 14-4 overall and 10-3 in the SAC. Lenoir-Rhyne is now 12-7 overall and 8-6 in conference play. The Bulldogs return home to Cuddy Arena Saturday afternoon for a SAC match-up versus Tusculum for a 2 p.m. start. LRU faces undefeated Lincoln Memorial in a conference home encounter on the same day and time.
 
"Danasia was outstanding," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "She did a great job of finishing and converting at the line. Everyone else did a nice job of getting her the ball. Sophomore point guard Courtney Robinson (Taylors, S.C.) and graduate student point guard Amber Neely (Charlotte, N.C.) made some nice baskets as well. When they both get out in transition, it gives us a little momentum. This was a big road win."
 
Robinson and Neely added nine points each for the visitors. Junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) fell short of her 11th double-double with seven points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) contributed six markers.
 
The Bulldogs swept every major statistical category, outrebounding Lenoir-Rhyne 38-26 and converting 16 points off 13 LRU turnovers. The Wingate bench slightly outscored the Bears' reserves 21-14, while also outscoring the hosts 38-28 in the paint. The 'Dogs led 15-12 in total assists and 15-10 in second-chance buckets.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore forward Madi Suddreth (Taylorsville, N.C.) led the Bear scoring attack with 19 points on eight-of-15 shooting (53 percent). She matched Witherspoon with five rebounds. Senior center Chelsey Romero (Hampton, Va.) also tallied double figures with 13 markers, four boards and three assists. Senior forwards Morgan Cooper (Hampton, Va.) and Alecia Bell (Newport News, Va.) contributed six points each.
 
Wingate led by a narrow margin of 7-5 with 5:57 left in the opening quarter, but consecutive two-pointers from Romero and Suddreth gave LRU a 9-7 advantage at the 4:49 mark. Three more ties and five lead changes followed as the Bears led 17-14 at the break between quarters on a buzzer-beating lay-up from Suddreth.
 
LRU led for the entire second stanza with the Bulldogs getting no closer than two points. A Witherspoon lay-up put Wingate within two markers; however, the Bears pushed their advantage out to five points with 4:37 remaining on the clock. Lenoir-Rhyne led wire-to-wire for the remainder of the quarter when two free throws from LRU sophomore guard Kendall Toineeta (Cherokee, N.C.) gave the Bears' their largest lead of the contest at 32-24 with 2:10 left in the first half. The hosts led 33-30 at the halftime intermission.
 
With the score tied at 33-33 early in the third frame, Neely hit the go-ahead basket to give Wingate a 35-33 advantage with 7:23 on the clock. The Bulldogs never trailed from this point forward with LRU getting no closer than four points in the stanza. Wingate grabbed its first double-digit lead of the game at 49-39 on a basket from Robinson. The 'Dogs led 50-39 entering the final quarter.
 
The Bulldogs led by a double-digit margin for the entire fourth frame. Two charity tosses from WU senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) allowed the 'Dogs to take their biggest lead of the contest 68-49 with 35 seconds remaining in regulation. Suddreth nailed a three-pointer with 26 seconds left, but Wingate held on for the 16-point victory.
 
"Our defense stepped up in the second half," Hancock says. "We started out slowly and they seemed to be getting easy looks around the basket. Holding them to only six points in the third quarter was huge for us."
 
Wingate shot 48 percent from the floor as a team (24-of-50) compared to LRU's 38.6 shooting percentage (22-of-57). The Bulldogs were 19-of-23 from the charity stripe (82.6 percent), while posting eight steals and four blocks in the contest.
 
(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.)