Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) posted her 13th double-double of the season with game-high totals of 21 points and 14 rebounds, boosting the Bulldogs to an 85-73 Senior Day/Play 4Kay victory over Carson-Newman University Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Graduate student point guard Amber Neely (Charlotte, N.C.) dished out 10 assists in Wingate's final regular season home game.

With the South Atlantic Conference victory, Wingate improves to 21-4 overall and 17-3 in the SAC. The Bulldogs sweep the season series with the Eagles and win their eighth straight contest in the C-N series. Wingate visits Catawba Wednesday at 6 p.m. Carson-Newman is 17-9 overall and 14-6 in the SAC. The Eagles host Brevard Wednesday at the same time.
 
"Today was a very big win," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "It was a total team effort and a great way to send our seniors out. I thought we did a much better job defending in the second half. Amber made some terrific passes which got the momentum going in our direction."
 
Three other Bulldogs posted double figures with senior forward Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) tallying 15 points on seven-of-10 shooting from the floor (70 percent). Sophomore guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.) added 12 points, finishing five-of-seven shooting (71 percent) and two-of-three from beyond the arc (66.7 percent). Senior guard Alex Tomlinson (Raleigh, N.C.) had 11 points on three-of-six shooting (50 percent) in her final regular-season home game.
 
WU sophomore forward/guard Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) fell short of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, while Neely (Charlotte, N.C.) flirted with a double-double of her own by posting seven points to go with her game-high 10 assists.
 
"Kristina was a key factor when we got into foul trouble," Hancock says. "Carson-Newman is a very talented team who challenges us in every facet of the game. I was pleased with the way we responded."
 
Wingate swept every major statistical category, outrebounding Carson-Newman 42-33 and maintaining the dominant 27-10 edge in assists. The Bulldogs converted 15 points off 15 Eagles turnovers. The 'Dogs outscored C-N 48-28 in the paint, while the WU bench outscored the Eagle substitutes 35-25. The hosts turned 11 offensive boards into 13 second-chance buckets.
 
Four Eagles tallied double-digit points with sophomore guard/forward Mika Wester (Newport, Tenn.) adding a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while finishing six-of-seven at the free-throw line (85 percent). Sophomore guard Haris Price (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) finished second on the C-N scoring list with 15 points, while connecting on two-of-four shots from three-point range (50 percent).
 
Carson-Newman sophomore guard Briana Smith (Nashville, Tenn.) and senior forward Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.) contributed 10 points each. Senior guard Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) added nine markers in the contest.
 
It was a back-and-forth affair in the opening quarter with six lead changes and five tie scores up until the 1:48 mark of the first frame. A two-point jumper by Tomlinson gave Wingate a 20-19 advantage; the Bulldogs would never let go of the lead for the remainder of the contest. The hosts led 27-21 at the break between quarters.
 
Wingate led wire-to-wire the rest of the way, grabbing its first double digit lead of the contest (34-24) on a three-pointer from Averette with 6:25 on the second-quarter clock. The Eagles trimmed the deficit down to four points (40-36) on a lay-up from Wester with 2:42 to go in the quarter. A three-pointer from Brooks made it a three-point game with 16 seconds remaining in the half with Wingate leading by a score of 42-39 at the halftime intermission.
 
The Bulldogs continued to hold the advantage by a narrow margin in the third quarter, leading by no more than seven points. A lay-up from Averette gave the hosts their largest lead of the stanza at 55-48 with 4:14 in the frame.
 
With 52 seconds remaining, back-to-back charity tosses from Wester cut the margin down to one point (61-60). Miscenko nailed one-of-two free throws with 26 ticks on the clock to give Wingate a 62-60 lead entering the final quarter of play.
 
The 'Dogs used an 8-0 mini run to jump out to a 10-point advantage with 8:24 left in the fourth quarter. Wingate held the double digit lead for the majority of the stanza. Carson-Newman would trim the margin down to nine points twice, but would not get any closer. A lay-up from Miscenko handed Wingate its largest lead of the contest at 15 points (83-68) with 2:05 on the clock. The Bulldogs held on for the 12-point victory.
 
Wingate shot above 50 percent for only the third time this season, shooting 53.1 percent from the floor (34-of-64) and three-of-eight from beyond the arc (37.5 percent). The C-N Eagles were 26-of-63 from the field (41.3 percent) and shot 76.1 percent from the charity stripe (16-of-21).
 
(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.)