Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University sophomore forward/guard Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) had 17 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots to lead the host Bulldogs to a 61-54 South Atlantic Conference women's basketball victory over Newberry College Wednesday night in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Wingate has won five straight contests.
 
Wingate improves to 16-4 overall and 12-3 in the SAC. Newberry slips to 11-8 overall and 7-8 in the SAC. The Bulldogs visit NCAA Division II number five Lincoln Memorial Saturday at 12 noon. The league contest will be broadcast on the American Sports Network (ASN). Newberry visits Mars Hill the same day for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
 
"This was a big victory for us," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "Defensively, we did a fantastic job…holding them under 60 is tough to do. They have such a great inside-outside combination they can be hard to guard." 
 
Wingate junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) and sophomore guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.) posted 13 points each for the Bulldogs. Miscenko recorded her 11th double-double of the season with a game-high 13 rebounds. She added a team-best three blocked shots. Averette hit four-of-five field goals and two-of-two three-point tries on her way to her 13-point night. Nine players participated Wednesday night and nine players scored points.
 
"I thought (tonight) was a team effort, but Danasia and graduate student guard Amber Neely (Charlotte, N.C.) handled their shooters nicely," Hancock says. "Caroline gave us a spark off the bench, as did Jordan Quick (High Point, N.C.) and Zasha Barrett (Monroe, N.C.) in the post." 
 
For Newberry, junior guard Nicola Handreck (Heywood, Victoria, Australia) had 23 points and seven rebounds to lead the visiting Wolves in both categories. Newberry junior center Meg Essex (Glamorgan Vale, Queensland, Australia) had 19 points, five rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals. Only three other Wolves found the scoring column Wednesday night.
 
The score was tied six times in the first half with three lead changes. Newberry led 13-11 after the first quarter of play, thanks to eight points from Essex. Witherspoon led the hosts with six first-quarter markers.
 
The Bulldogs outscored the Wolves 19-10 to take the lead for good in the second stanza. Wingate tallied the last seven points of the second quarter to turn a 23-23 tie into a 30-23 advantage entering the halftime locker room. Witherspoon gave the hosts the lead for good when she hit a jumper at the 2:44 mark to make the score 25-23 Bulldogs.
 
Averette hit a three-point field goal on the next possession to give the hosts a five-point lead. Neely assisted on both the Witherspoon hoop and the Averette triple. Miscenko finished the first half scoring on a jumper with seven ticks left on the second-quarter clock.
 
Wingate nudged its lead to 36-25 when Neely hit a transition lay-up with 7:15 left in the third quarter. The 11-point bulge was the Bulldogs' largest lead of the evening. Newberry answered with a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 36-34 when Handreck converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 4:49 mark.
 
The Wolves scored only three more points the rest of the quarter as Wingate built its lead back to seven points. Averette ended the frame with her second of two three-point field goals (on a Neely dish) to make the score 44-37 Bulldogs going into the fourth quarter.
 
Newberry made one more push, as sophomore guard Shelby Britten (Shepparton, Victoria, Australia) hit a floater with 5:24 remaining to make the score 50-47 Wingate. The Bulldogs responded with a 6-0 mini-run to build to a nine-point lead (56-47) on a Miscenko jumper at the 3:57 plateau. The Wolves would get no closer than six points down the stretch.
 
Wingate hit 42.4 percent of its field goal attempts (25-of-59), while Newberry managed only 37.9 percent shooting (22-of-58). Handreck and Essex hit 17-of-36 field goals, while their five teammates who saw playing time made only five-of-22 attempts from the floor. The Wolves hit only one-of-11 tries from downtown.
 
The Bulldogs had 34 points in the paint, compared to 22 markers for the Wolves. Wingate's bench outscored Newberry's substitutes 23-4. Averette led the Bulldog bench with her 13 points. Quick and Barrett had four points each in a reserve role.