Women's Basketball | 2/21/2017 1:11:00 PM

Salisbury, N.C.----The Wingate Bulldogs look to continue their scorching 10-game win streak when they make the short trip up to Salisbury for a South Atlantic Conference rivalry match-up versus Catawba College from Goodman Gymnasium Wednesday evening. Tip-off is slated for a 6 p.m. start. The Bulldogs have been victorious in 16 out of their last 17 contests.
 
Wingate sits at 21-4 overall and 17-3 in the SAC. The Catawba Indians are 15-10 overall and 12-8 in league play. The 'Dogs currently hold the second-place spot in the SAC standings, one game behind first-place Lincoln Memorial (23-2 overall, 18-2 SAC).
 
Wingate Players to Watch
 
Two WU student-athletes average double figures for the Bulldogs with junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) leading the charge, averaging 14.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per contest. Sophomore forward/guard Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) is second on the WU scoring charts with 13.9 markers and 6.6 boards per game.
 
Wingate senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) averages 7.6 points in 24 starts and currently holds 997 career points entering the final two games of the 2016-17 regular season campaign.
 
Witherspoon has posted 13-plus points in seven of her last nine games. The Hickory High School product ranks fifth overall in the SAC with her 52.6 field goal percentage, fifth in total steals (41) and fifth in total offensive rebounds (77).
 
Miscenko has tallied 13 double-double performances on the season. She is listed second in the conference with her average rebound total. The University of Texas El Paso transfer leads the SAC with her 65 blocked shots, ranks second in offensive rebounds (95), third in defensive boards (152) and second in total rebounds (247). 
 
Sophomore guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.) averages 8.7 points per contest and continues to lead the SAC with her 54.5 shooting percentage from beyond the arc. Senior forward Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) contributes 7.8 markers through 21 games played.
 
Catawba Players to Watch
 
Catawba is led by the dynamic duo of junior center Terri Rogers (Burlington, N.C.) and senior guard Bri Johnson (Statesville, N.C.), who are among the leading scorers in the SAC. Rogers is tied for second in the conference with her 18.4 points per game. She adds a team-best 9.2 rebounds per game to her stat line. Johnson is third in the SAC individual standings with 17.4 points per game. She has 36 total steals. The pair has combined for 26 total blocked shots.
 
Junior guard Serena Brown (Ft. Washington, Md.) is the third Indian averaging double figures with 10.7 markers through 25 games played. Brown also has tallied 37 steals on the season. Junior guard Marshauna Butler (Bowie, Md.) contributes eight points per game.
 
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. She won her 100th game at the Wingate helm Wednesday versus Coker. Hancock has compiled a 239-201 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 for 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 ('16, MASM), 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.
 
Catawba Coaches
 
The Catawba College Indians are led by 13th-year head coach Angie Morton, who took over the program in 2003. The Indians have compiled a 195-148 overall record under her leadership. Morton was named the SAC Coach of the Year following the 2011-12 campaign.
 
Morton is a 1984 Catawba graduate who returned to her alma mater after serving as the head coach at Pfeiffer University for seven seasons. She guided the Falcons to a 108-90 record in her career. Prior to her stint at Pfeiffer, Morton was the head women's basketball coach at West Stanly High School in Oakboro. She was a three-sport student-athlete at Catawba, where she earned 10 letters in basketball, softball and field hockey.
 
Morton is supported by associate head coach Terrence Baxter, who joined the Catawba coaching staff in 2013. Baxter serves as the primary assistant to Morton and was promoted from assistant to associate head coach prior to the 2015-16 season.
 
Baxter is a 2001 graduate of Pfeiffer University, where he was a men's basketball student-athlete. He commenced his coaching career as an assistant coach for his alma mater in 2006. Baxter left Pfeiffer to join the women's basketball coaching staff at Brevard College, where he was the Tornados' top assistant for three seasons. He then spent two years as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Queens University of Charlotte before arriving at Catawba.
 
The Catawba women's basketball coaching staff also includes assistant coach Jazmine Charles, who is 2015 graduate and previous women's basketball student-athlete at Lenoir-Rhyne University.
 
Wingate's Last Game
 
Marta Miscenko posted a monster performance for her 13th double-double of the season, finishing with 21 points and 13 rebounds in an 85-73 Senior Day/Play 4Kay victory over Carson-Newman from Cuddy Arena Saturday. Graduate student point guard Amber Neely (Charlotte, N.C.) recorded a game-high 10 assists in the contest.
 
Three other Bulldogs posted double figures with Kristina Rumplasch tallying 15 points on seven-of-10 shooting from the floor (70 percent). Caroline Averette 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.
 
Danasia Witherspoon fell short of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, while Neely flirted with a double-double of her own by posting seven points to go with her game-high 10 assists.
 
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.
 
The Bulldogs led by only one point (61-60) with 52 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but Miscenko nailed one-of-two free throws with 26 ticks on the clock to make it a two-point game entering the final quarter of play (62-60).
 
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.
 
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).
 
Catawba's Last Game
 
The Catawba Indians defeated Brevard by a final score of 80-63 on their home court this past Saturday. Terri Rogers led the Catawba scoring efforts, tallying a double-double with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Bri Johnson added 17 points, while Serena Brown contributed 15 points with seven assists.
 
The Indians shot 46.6 percent from the floor (34-of-73) compared to Brevard's 42 percent from the field (21-of-50). Catawba slightly outrebounded the Tornados 35-27, while outscoring the hosts 42-20 in the paint. The Indians converted 28 points off 23 Brevard turnovers. The visitors turned 13 offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points.
 
Previous Meeting
 
WU sophomore guard Courtney Robinson (Taylors, S.C.) posted a season-high 16 points to lead the Bulldogs to a 59-51 triumph over Catawba from Cuddy Arena on Jan. 11, 2017. Tomlinson contributed 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Miscenko added her ninth double-double of the season with 11 points and a game-high 11 boards in the contest. Miscenko also shot a season-high 71.4 percent from the floor (five-of-seven accuracy).
 
The 'Dogs swept nearly every major statistical category, outrebounding Catawba 43-32 and maintaining the 14-13 edge in assists. The Wingate bench dominated the Indian reserves 21-6 with the hosts slightly outscoring the visitors 28-26 in the paint. Wingate had an advantage of 12-3 in second-chance buckets.
 
Wingate complied a 39.3 shooting percentage in the contest (24-of-61), while Catawba shot 37.7 from the floor (20-of-53). The Bulldogs connected on 45.5 percent from three-point range (five-of-11), while the WU defense held the Indians to only 25 percent connectivity from beyond the arc (four-of-16).
 
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.)