Women's Basketball | 1/6/2017 3:38:00 PM

Jefferson City, Tenn.----The Wingate University Bulldogs venture west across the North Carolina-Tennessee border for a crucial South Atlantic Conference road showdown versus the Carson-Newman University Eagles Saturday afternoon from the Holt Fieldhouse on the C-N campus. Tip-off is slated for a 2 p.m. start.
 
Wingate is currently riding a four-game win streak at 9-3 overall and 5-2 in the SAC. Carson-Newman is 8-5 overall and 5-2 in conference action. The Eagles have won four out of their last five conference games entering the Wingate match-up.
 
"Carson-Newman is a very talented, well-coached team," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "They have all the pieces, inside players, players who can shoot the ball and ones who can get to the rack. Our defensive effort will need to be at its best. They are always a tough match-up for us, especially at their place."
 
Wingate Players to Watch
 
Wingate junior center and reigning SAC Player of the Week Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) continues her monster 2016-17 campaign averaging a double-double with 17 points and 10.9 rebounds per contest. Miscenko has posted seven double-double performances this season.
 
Miscenko leads the conference with her average rebound total and ranks fifth overall in the individual standings in points per game. The University of Texas El Paso transfer also is first in the SAC with an impressive 40 total blocks on the season.
 
Sophomore guard/forward Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) also averages double figures with 12.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. The Hickory High School graduate also has tallied a team-leading 19 steals with seven blocks in her second season with the Bulldogs.
 
WU sophomore guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.) and senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) have contributed 9.8 and 7.9 points per contest, respectively. Bulldog senior guard Alex Tomlinson (Raleigh, N.C.) tops the Wingate charts with her 48 assists on the season.
 
Carson-Newman Players to Watch
 
Three Carson-Newman Eagles average double figures on the season with sophomore guard/forward and Western Carolina University transfer Mika Wester (Newport, Tenn.) leading the C-N scoring attack. Webster is third in the SAC, averaging 18.8 points per contest. She adds 7.1 rebounds to her 2016-17 statistical ledger.
 
Senior guard Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) is second on the C-N scoring charts, averaging 13.2 points and 4.5 assists per game. Brooks also has tallied 16 steals. Sophomore guard Briana Smith (Nashville, Tenn.) has posted 11.7 markers through 11 games with 4.4 rebounds per contest and 14 steals.
 
Sophomore guard Haris Price (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) and junior forward Katie Stubblefield (Alcoa, Tenn.) have posted 8.8 and eight points per contest, respectively. A Lee (Tenn.) University transfer, Price leads the Eagles with 20 total steals.
 
"Wester is playing at another level," Hancock says. "She can do it all. With the way she is shooting the ball, she will definitely be a focal point for us."
 
"Transition defense will also be very important in this game," Hancock says. "Their perimeter players get the ball out quickly and force the tempo, which has allowed them to put up some high-scoring games. We need to play at our pace and not theirs."
 
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 227-199 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.
 
Carson-Newman Coaches
 
The C-N Eagles are led by sixth-year head coach Mike Mincey, who has compiled a very successful tenure in Jefferson City with a 93-63 career record. Before being promoted to the head coach position, Mincey served three seasons as an assistant coach for Carson-Newman under previous head coach Dean Walsh. Mincey spent the 2005-06 campaign as an assistant with previous Eagle men's basketball coach Dale Clayton.
 
Prior to arriving at Carson-Newman, Mincey served successful stints at the Division I and high school levels. In 1996-97, he was the head basketball and baseball coach at Conway Christian School in Conway, S.C. From 2001-04, Mincey was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at East Tennessee State University. He is a 1996 graduate and men's basketball alumni student-athlete at King College in Bristol, Tenn.
 
Mincey is supported by first-year assistant coach Tatum Burstrom, a 2016 graduate and previous C-N women's basketball student-athlete under Mincey. Burstrom is ranked fourth all-time in SAC history with 254 made three-pointers and joined the Eagles' 1,000 career point club during her tenure. She was named to the All-SAC Freshman Team in 2012-13, All-SAC honorable mention in 2014-15 and earned second team honors for her senior season in the 2015-16 campaign.
 
Wingate's Last Game
 
The Wingate Bulldogs returned to SAC play after previous consecutive non-conference contests and earned a convincing road victory over the Coker College Cobras by a final score of 66-51 on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Marta Miscenko added another monster performance to her junior year resume with 16 points and 17 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the 2016-17 campaign. Miscenko also tallied six total blocked shots.
 
Danasia Witherspoon added 11 points on five-of-nine shooting (55 percent), while senior forward Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) and sophomore guard Courtney Robinson (Taylors, S.C.) contributed nine and eight points, respectively. The duo also shot a combined 46 percent from the floor (seven-of-15).
 
The Bulldogs swept every major statistical category in the contest, outrebounding Coker 41-36 and maintaining the 10-6 edge in total assists. The Wingate bench outscored the Coker reserves 29-21, while the visitors led 17-8 in second-chance baskets. Wingate converted 17 points off 15 Coker turnovers.
 
Hancock's squad shot 43.9 percent from the floor (29-of-66 shooting), while the Bulldog defense held Coker to only 34.5 percent shooting in the contest  (20-of-58). The 'Dogs also forced five steals compared to the Cobra's four takeaways.
 
Wingate never trailed in the contest, holding onto the double-digit advantage from the 6:04 mark of the third quarter to the end of regulation. The Bulldogs led by 20 points with a 61-41 advantage with 9:53 remaining in the fourth stanza.
 
Carson-Newman's Last Game
 
The Carson-Newman Eagles hosted the Tusculum College Pioneers for a SAC showdown on Wednesday, Jan. 4 and claimed a 76-66 triumph over their in-state rivals. Three Eagles finished the game with double figures in the scoring column. Mika Wester led the charge, falling short of a double-double with 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Briana Smith finished with 15 points, while Kailyn Brooks added 11 markers with seven assists and four boards.
 
The Eagles outrebounded Tusculum 37-31 and posted the dominant 19-8 edge in the assist category. C-N converted 19 points off 27 Pioneer turnovers and led by a narrow 7-5 margin in second-chance buckets. Carson-Newman outscored Tusculum 24-22 in the paint and led 21-6 in fast-break points. The hosts shot 39.3 percent from the floor (24-of-61 shooting) and posted a field goal percentage of .391 from three-point range.
 
Last Season's Match-up
 
Wingate swept the two-game season series over Carson-Newman during the 2015-16 campaign. The Navy Blue and Vegas Gold Bulldogs have won six consecutive games over the Eagles. The WU Bulldogs rallied from a 10-point third quarter deficit to defeat the Eagles by a narrow margin of 63-57 in the first meeting from Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court on Jan. 9, 2016. Danasia Witherspoon and Alex Tomlinson posted 13 points each in the contest, while Kristina Rumplasch added 13 points to lead the scoring attack.
 
The 'Dogs outscored C-N 34-12 in the paint and led 19-10 in points off the bench. The hosts shot 39.7 percent from the floor (23-of-58 shooting) and held the visitors to only 32.7 percent shooting in the contest (18-of-55).
 
Wingate outscored the Eagles 10-2 in the third quarter to trim the deficit down to a 48-46 C-N lead with 38 seconds remaining in the stanza. After a Carson-Newman free throw to commence the final quarter, Witherspoon and Caroline Averette scored Wingate's first two baskets to give the 'Dogs a 50-49 advantage for good.
 
In the second meeting, the Bulldogs traveled to Jefferson City and posted a dominant 81-65 triumph to complete the season-series sweep over their SAC rivals. Miscenko posted a (then) career-high 16 points to lead Wingate. The Bulldogs hit a season-best 60 percent of their field goal attempts (30-of-50). Courtney Robinson and Shelby Tricoli contributed 15 and 14 points, respectively, in support of Miscenko's 16 markers. The duo shot a combined 61 percent from the floor (11-of-18).
 
The Bulldogs dominated the Eagles 44-22 in the paint with the WU bench outscoring the C-N reserves 53-39. Wingate outrebounded Carson-Newman 35-28 and held the Eagles to 35 percent shooting in the contest. The visitors also posted a 42.9 field goal percentage from beyond the arc.
 
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.)