Women's Basketball | 1/3/2017 4:10:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's basketball returns to South Atlantic Conference action after consecutive non-conference victories with a crucial road match-up versus the Coker College Cobras from the DeLoach Center Wednesday night at 6 p.m.
 
Wingate enters the showdown at 8-3 overall and 4-2 in the SAC. Coker is 2-9 overall and 1-5 in conference action. The Cobras are coming off a non-conference triumph over the Belmont Abbey College Crusaders and seek their first win streak of the season with a victory over the Wingate Bulldogs.
 
"Every conference game is huge," Wingate head coach Ann Hancock says. "We will need to be ready to go from the tip. Coker plays many different people and uses them to pressure the basketball. They will challenge us to take good care of the ball."
 
Wingate Players to Watch
 
WU junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) continues to lead the Bulldogs averaging a double-double with 17.1 point and 10.4 boards per contest. Miscenko ranks fifth overall in the SAC individual standings with her average point total and third in rebounds per game.
 
The reigning SAC Player of the Week leads the conference with an impressive 34 total blocked shots on the season and 3.1 blocks per game. She also leads the 'Dogs with six double-double performances on the season.
 
Wingate sophomore guard/forward Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) serves as another key contributor for the Bulldog scoring attack with 13.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and a team-leading 19 total steals. Witherspoon also leads her squad with a 51.5 field goal percentage. The Hickory High School graduate has tallied three double-doubles in her second-year campaign.
 
Sophomore guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.) is third on the WU scoring charts with 10.1 points and 3.3 rebounds through 11 games. Averette also has compiled 12 steals and is first in the SAC, shooting 59.3 percent from three-point range. Senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) averages 8.3 points and 2.6 boards per game.
 
Coker Players to Watch
 
Coker junior forward Iresha Cooper (Hemingway, S.C.) leads the Cobra scoring attack with 11.6 points per game, along with 5.7 boards through 11 games played. Cooper leads the SAC, shooting 58.2 percent from the floor on the season.
 
Junior guard Sydney Shull (Irmo, S.C.) is second on the Coker scoring charts with 8.5 points, 3.6 boards and 2.2 assists per contest. Junior guard Kendra Lambert (Palmyra, Ind.) and freshman guard Lindsey Adams (Morganton, N.C.) average 7.7 and seven points per game, respectively.
 
"We will need to find their shooters early," Hancock says. "We also need to keep their posts off the blocks and limit their second-chance points. Rebounding will be a big part of the outcome; therefore, boxing out and crashing the glass have been emphasized in our most recent practices."
 
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 226-199 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.
 
Coker Coaches
 
The Coker College Cobras are led by second-year head coach Shannon Johnson, who is an Olympic Gold Medalist and seven-time WNBA All-Star. Johnson played for six different franchises during her 10-year professional career and was named an American Basketball League (ABL) All-Star.
 
Prior to arriving at Coker, Johnson served as an assistant coach at Division I Northwestern State University in Louisiana, where she mentored two All-Southland Conference performers. She was a women's basketball student-athlete at the University of South Carolina, where she was an All-American and four time All-Southeastern Conference honoree.
 
Johnson is supported by second-year assistant women's basketball coach Brittany Christian, who joined the Coker coaching staff in October 2015. Christian arrived in Hartsville, S.C., after serving as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia. Christian was a women's basketball and lacrosse student-athlete at SAC foe Lenoir-Rhyne University prior to beginning her coaching career. She helped guide the Bears to the 2014 SAC Championship and a spot in the 2014 NCAA Division II Southeast Region tournament.
 
Wingate Last Week
 
The Wingate Bulldogs closed out the 2016 calendar year with non-conference home triumphs over Chowan University (Dec. 29) and USC Aiken (Dec. 31) from Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. The 'Dogs claimed a dominant 71-56 victory over Chowan with Marta Miscenko and Shelby Tricoli combining for 39 points on 16-of-28 shooting (57 percent) to lead the hosts.
 
Miscenko posted the sixth double-double of her junior campaign with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while also adding seven blocks to her statistical ledger. Tricoli tallied a season-high 17 points with four assists and three rebounds. Danasia Witherspoon posted her third double-double performance with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
 
Wingate outrebounded Chowan 50-46, while maintaining the dominant 19-8 edge in the assist category. The Bulldogs outscored the visitors 50-26 in the paint and led 20-19 in points off turnovers. The 'Dogs shot 46.6 percent from the floor (27-of-58 shooting), while the WU defense held the Hawks to only 27.2 percent shooting (22-of-81).
 
On New Year's Eve, Wingate played its final non-conference contest of the 2016-17 campaign with a 67-54 triumph over the USC Aiken Pacers. Three Bulldogs scored double-digit points, with Miscenko posting 17 points to lead the hosts. Witherspoon and senior forward Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) tallied 12 points each. Witherspoon and Miscenko led the 'Dogs in rebounding with nine and eight boards, respectively.
 
Wingate shot 42.3 percent from the field (30-of-71 shooting), while outscoring USC Aiken 48-28 on points in the paint. The Bulldogs also converted 25 Pacer turnovers into 21 points. Hancock's squad also held the 13-11 advantage in second-chance buckets and 14-8 in fast-break points.
 
Coker's Last Game
 
The Coker College Cobras earned a narrow 65-60 decision over Belmont Abbey on Dec. 19 from the DeLoach Center in their last match-up of 2016. Iresha Cooper led the Coker scoring efforts with 14 points and six rebounds in the contest. Senior forward Lyric Levester (Jacksonville, N.C.) fell short of a double-double with nine points and 10 boards.
 
The Cobras shot 47.7 percent from the floor (21-of-44), while outrebounding Belmont Abbey by a margin of 35-23. The Coker bench outscored the Crusaders' reserves 35-11, while maintaining the 7-4 edge in the assist category. Coker also led 14-4 in second-chance points.
 
Last Season's Match-up
 
The Wingate Bulldogs swept the two-game season series versus Coker with single-digit decisions of 61-60 (Jan. 6, 2016) and 74-66 (Feb. 17, 2016). In the Jan. 6 home match-up, the 'Dogs earned a hard-fought victory with Witherspoon leading the scoring efforts 10 points and 11 rebounds in her double-double performance.
 
Tricoli and Rumplasch had 11 points each with the Bulldog bench outscoring the Coker reserves by a dominant margin of 21-2. Wingate also outrebounded the Cobras 45-33 in the winning effort. The Bulldogs outscored the Cobras 34-16 in the paint.
 
The 'Dogs earned a nine-point triumph over Coker in Hartsville, S.C. on Feb. 17 with Witherspoon leading the visitors with 19 points in the contest. WU graduate student guard Amber Neely (Charlotte, N.C.) tallied 11 markers to contribute to Wingate's scoring attack. Averette and Tricoli contributed nine and five points, respectively.
 
Wingate shot 45.8 percent from the field (22-of-48 shooting), while outscoring Coker 28-24 in the paint. The 'Dogs also held the narrow 35-34 advantage in rebounding and led 21-14 in points off turnovers.
 
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. He is the son of Harrison and Dona Kaplan.)