Women's Basketball | 2/28/2017 1:32:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The 2016 South Atlantic Conference Tournament champion Wingate University Bulldogs begin their quest for a second consecutive league crown when they host  Lenoir-Rhyne University in the 2017 quarterfinal round Wednesday evening from Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. Tip-off is slated for a 6 p.m. start with the contest airing live on ESPN3. WU will be the three seed in the 2017 tournament bracket, while LRU is the sixth seed.
 
Wingate concluded the 2016-17 campaign at 22-5 overall and 18-4 in the SAC. Lenoir-Rhyne finished at 17-11 overall and 13-9 in league play. The Bulldogs finished in a tie for second place in the SAC standings with Anderson, falling one win short of a potential regular season co- championship. Lincoln Memorial earned the 2017 SAC regular season crown (24-3, 19-3 SAC).
 
The 'Dogs swept the two-game season series versus LRU, winning by a double-digit margin in each of the victories. Wingate took game one by a final score of 58-42 from Cuddy Arena on Nov. 22, 2016 and also claimed a 68-52 triumph in game two on Jan. 25, 2017 from Hickory.
 
Wingate Players to Watch
 
The Bulldogs finished the regular season with two student-athletes averaging double figures. Junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) led Wingate with 14.3 points and 9.7 boards per contest. Sophomore guard/forward Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) also had a break-out campaign with 13.8 markers and 6.6 boards through 26 starts.
 
Miscenko finished third overall in the SAC individual standings with her average rebound total, ninth in points per game and second in blocked shots (68). The University of Texas El Paso transfer also placed third in multiple categories including total rebounds (261), offensive rebounds (99) and third in total defensive boards (162). She also led the Bulldogs with 13 double-double performances on the season.
 
Witherspoon also placed in the top 10 in key statistical categories including eighth in field goal percentage (51.5), sixth in offensive rebounds (83) and sixth in total steals (43). The Hickory High School graduate closed out her sophomore campaign scoring 13-plus points in eight out of her last 11 contests. She tallied four double-double performances as well.
 
Wingate maintained one of the more productive benches in the SAC this season led by sophomore guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.), who averaged 9.2 points per contest and led the league with her 49.2 field goal clip from beyond the arc. Senior forward Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) and senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) added 7.8 and 7.3 markers per contest, respectively. Rumplasch led the Bulldogs with a 53.6 shooting percentage.
 
The Bulldogs finished the 2016-17 campaign as the fourth-best scoring team in the SAC with 71.9 points per game slightly behind third-place Anderson, who posted 72.7 markers on the season. WU ranked first overall in the league standings with a 44.9 team field goal percentage and second in total rebounds per contest (42.4).
 
Lenoir-Rhyne Players to Watch
 
The LRU Bears are led by the scoring duo of sophomore forward Madi Suddreth (Taylorsville, N.C.) and senior center Chelsey Romero (Hampton, Va.), who both are the lone Lenoir-Rhyne student-athletes averaging double-digit markers. Suddreth leads the team with 12.4 points per game, while Romero averages 11.6 points through 26 starts.
 
Senior forward Brooke Robinson (Vale, N.C.) leads the SAC with her 62.5 field goal percentage, along with averaging 8.9 markers per game for third on the team. Fellow senior forward Morgan Cooper (Virginia Beach, Va.) and junior guard Justyce Swango (Virginia Beach, Va.) contribute 6.1 and 5.8 points per game, respectively.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne ranks third in the SAC with a 43.2 total shooting percentage and sixth in total rebounds per contest at 38.3.
 
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, Feb. 15 versus Coker. Hancock has compiled a 240-202 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.
 
 
Lenoir-Rhyne Coaches
 
The LRU women's basketball program is mentored by second-year head coach Katie Pate, who returned to the Bears after spending time as an assistant coach at Division I Georgia State University in Atlanta, Ga. Prior to her tenure with the GSU Panthers, Pate spent four seasons on the LRU coaching staff as both an assistant coach and associate head coach.
 
Pate led Lenoir-Rhyne to one of its best seasons in school history during the 2013-14 campaign.  The Bears finished with a 24-7 slate and won a share of the South Atlantic Conference regular season title. In addition, LRU hosted the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament.
 
She began her coaching career as an assistant coach for her alma mater the Coker College Cobras from 1998-99, before moving up to Division I USC Upstate (1999-01). Pate has six years of head coaching experience at the Division II level, leading Coker (2001-05) and the Belmont Abbey College Crusaders (2005-07). She also served the 2009-10 season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Wingate Bulldogs.
 
Pate is assisted by first-year assistant coach Brad Mangum, who arrives at LRU after serving as the head coach for the Alexander Central High School women's basketball program in Taylorsville, N.C. for three seasons (2013-16). He also mentored the Fred T. Foard High School women's basketball team from 2011 to 2013.
 
Two other first-year assistant coaches join the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears in 2016-17 with Brooklyn Cartwright and LaSashia Connelly. Cartwright is a 2016 graduate of Division I Georgia Southern University, where she served as a student assistant coach all four years of her undergraduate career (2012-16). Connelly was an assistant coach for the varsity women's basketball at Jimmy C. Draughn High School in Valdese, N.C. prior to arriving at LRU. She was also a four-year women's basketball student-athlete at Salem College.
 
Wingate's Last Game
 
Wingate's 11-game win streak came to an end this past Saturday, as the 'Dogs fell to Anderson in a 84-79 nail-biter on AU's home court. Danasia Witherspoon led the WU scoring efforts with 18 points and nine rebounds.
 
Three teammates joined Witherspoon in double figures. Caroline Averette and sophomore guard Courtney Robinson (Taylors, S.C.) added 13 points each, while graduate student point guard Amber Neely (Charlotte, N.C.) posted 10 points and a game-high five assists.
 
Wingate slightly outrebounded Anderson 39-34, while the WU bench outscored the Anderson reserves by a commanding 34-7 margin. The Bulldogs converted 19 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance baskets. Wingate also capitalized on 13 AU mistakes with 16 points off turnovers.
 
The Trojans shot 53.7 percent from the floor (29-of-54), compared to Wingate's 43.7 percent field goal clip (31-of-71). Anderson hit six-of-19 shots from beyond the arc (31.6 percent), while the Bulldogs were four-of-11 from three-point range (36.4 percent). Witherspoon was eight-of-11 from the charity stripe, while Averette was a perfect three-for-three from the line.
 
Anderson led by as many as 19 points with 2:04 remaining in third quarter and led by 16 points (62-46) early in the fourth stanza as well. The Bulldogs fought back to tie the contest at 71-71 with 2:47 remaining, along with grabbing their first lead at 73-71 with 2:35 left. Anderson regained the advantage at 74-73 and never let go of the lead for the remainder of regulation.
 
It was Anderson's second consecutive victory over a top 25 SAC opponent as they defeated ninth-ranked Lincoln Memorial earlier in the week. The Bulldogs were ranked 25th in the nation entering the AU match-up.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne's Last Game
 
LRU visited Mars Hill this past Saturday and posted a dominant 89-50 triumph to close out the regular season. Chelsey Romero led all scorers with 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Bears. Junior guard Cassidy Joyner (Dobson, N.C.) was the other Bear to finish in double figures with 11 points.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne shot 58.1 percent from the floor (36-of-62) compared to Mars Hill's 29.9 percent field goal clip (20-of-67). LRU also hit eight-of-13 shots from beyond the arc, while MHU only managed a 15.4 percent shooting performance from three-point range (two-of-13).
 
LRU outscored Mars Hill 40-20 in the paint, while the Lenoir-Rhyne bench outscored the Lions reserves 40-12. The Bears converted 19 points off 14 MHU turnovers. The LRU defense held Mars Hill to only 16 points in the second half of play. The Bears led by as many as 40 points in the contest.
 
Previous Meeting
 
The Wingate Bulldogs swept the two-game regular season series versus LRU with a 68-52 comeback road triumph from Hickory. Witherspoon led all scorers with a season-high 25 points on nine-of-12 shooting (75 percent). The 'Dogs trailed by as many as eight points in the second quarter before beginning their comeback trail and ending Lenoir-Rhyne's 15-game home win streak.
 
Wingate swept every major statistical category, outrebounding Lenoir-Rhyne 38-26 and converting 16 points off 13 LRU turnovers. The WU bench slightly outscored the Bears' reserves 21-14, while also outscoring the hosts 38-28 in the paint. The 'Dogs led 15-12 in total assists and 15-10 in second-chance buckets.
 
Wingate shot 48 percent from the floor as a team (24-of-50) compared to LRU's 38.6 shooting percentage (22-of-57). The Bulldogs were 19-of-23 from the charity stripe (82.6 percent), while posting eight steals and four blocks in the contest.
 
With the score tied at 33-33 early in the third quarter, Neely hit the go-ahead basket to give Wingate a 35-33 advantage with 7:23 remaining on the clock. The Bulldogs never trailed from this point forward with LRU getting no closer than four points in the stanza.
 
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.)