Women's Basketball | 2/7/2017 2:47:00 PM

Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs will seek to continue their six-game win streak and build on their biggest win of the 2016-17 campaign in a South Atlantic Conference home encounter versus Queens University of Charlotte Wednesday evening. Tip-off is slated for a 6 p.m. start. The 'Dogs are coming off a thrilling last-second road victory over fifth-ranked and previously undefeated Lincoln Memorial Saturday.
 
Wingate is 17-4 overall and 13-3 in the SAC. The Bulldogs received 34 points for this week's WBCA NCAA Division II top 25 coaches' poll. Number 25 Harding (Ark.) garnered 50 points.
Queens is 4-17 overall and 4-12 in league play. The Bulldogs hold the second-place spot in the SAC standings behind LMU. Queens looks to snap its current six-game losing streak.
 
Wingate Players to Watch
 
Wingate sophomore forward/guard and reigning SAC Player of the Week Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) continues to thrive as one of the top scorers in the league, averaging 14.8 points per game. Witherspoon has also compiled 6.8 rebounds per contest and a team-leading 53.7 field goal percentage.
 
The Hickory High School graduate ranks fifth in the SAC with her season field goal percentage, fifth in total offensive rebounds (65), sixth in steals (32) and ninth with her average point total. Witherspoon has posted double-digit points in five consecutive games.
 
Junior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) averages a double-double on the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds through 21 games. Miscenko has tallied 11 double-double performances on the season and is first overall in the league individual standings with 59 total blocks.
 
The University of Texas El Paso transfer is eighth in the SAC with her average point total, second in total offensive boards (86), fourth in defensive rebounds (124), third in rebounds per game and third in total rebounds (210).
 
Sophomore guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.) and senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) average 8.5 and 7.5 points per contest, respectively. Averette continues to hold the first-place spot in the SAC with her 52.4 percent field goal clip from three-point range. Senior point guard Alex Tomlinson (Raleigh, N.C.) is fourth in the SAC with 80 total assists in the 2016-17 campaign.
 
Queens Players to Watch
 
The Queens Royals have two student-athletes averaging double figures on the season with senior guard McKell Oliverio (Florence, Ky.) leading the charge with 14.1 points per game. Junior guard Mendy McNeese (Greeneville, Tenn.) is second on the team scoring charts with 10.2 markers through 13 games played.
 
Senior guard/forward Sarah Henson (Sylva, N.C.) and junior guard/forward Cheyenne Logan (Asheville, N.C.) contribute 9.7 and 8.2 points per game, respectively. Logan leads the team with her average rebound total of 5.4 boards in each contest. Senior forward/center Maggie Stewart (Otto, N.C.) adds 7.1 points through 21 games and leads the Royals with a 51.1 percent shooting mark.
 
 
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 235-201 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.
 
Queens Coaches
 
The Royals are led by first-year head coach Sarah Jansen, who most recently served as the head coach at Mars Hill University. Jansen is the reigning SAC Coach of the Year from last season, guiding the MHU Lions to the number four seed in the 2016 SAC Tournament.
 
Prior to Mars Hill, Jansen was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Belmont Abbey College from 2007-12. Additionally, she was also an assistant at Wofford College from 2004-07. Jansen is a 2004 graduate of the University of South Carolina Upstate.
 
Jansen is supported by women's basketball assistant coaches Kristin Parunak and McKenzie Owen. Parunak was previously an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Newberry College and also coached with Jansen at Mars Hill during the 2014 season. She also served as assistant athletic director and assistant coach at Catawba Valley Community College after coaching at Christopher Newport University. Parunak was women's basketball student-athlete at Presbyterian College and Concord (W.Va.) University.
 
Owen joins the Queens coaching staff this season after working as a sports information graduate assistant at King University. She was also a four-year member of the Belmont Abbey women's basketball team.
 
Wingate's Last Game
 
The Wingate Bulldogs handed fifth-ranked Lincoln Memorial its first loss of the season on a game-winning lay-up from graduate student guard Amber Neely (Charlotte, N.C.) with one second on the clock. The 'Dogs rebounded from their previous double overtime loss to LMU in December and snapped the Railsplitters' 20-game win streak.
 
Danasia Witherspoon led all scorers with 20 points, while sophomore guard Courtney Robinson (Taylors, S.C.) added 11 points. Marta Miscenko and sophomore center Zasha Barrett (Monroe, N.C.) contributed 10 markers each.
 
Neely nearly compiled a triple-double performance with eight points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Wingate shot 50.8 percent from the floor (30-of-59) compared to Lincoln Memorial's 42.9 field goal clip.
 
The Bulldogs led in multiple statistical categories, outscoring LMU 30-22 in the paint and covered 18 points off 16 Railsplitter turnovers. The WU bench outscored the Lincoln Memorial reserves 25-9 and maintained the slight 15-13 edge in the assist category.
 
Lincoln Memorial grabbed an early 21-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter, but the Bulldogs stormed back and did not trail for the final 18 minutes and 36 seconds. Wingate led by as many as seven point and held the 67-62 lead with 2:31 remaining in the contest.
 
The Railsplitters knotted the score up at 67-67, but back-to-back charity tosses from Neely gave the Bulldogs a 69-67 advantage with 38 seconds left. Lincoln Memorial then hit consecutive free throws 20 seconds later to make it 69-69 and set up Neely's game-winner.
 
Queens' Last Game
 
The Queens University of Charlotte Royals fell to the Brevard College Tornados this past Saturday by a final score of 58-49 in a SAC encounter on their home court. McKell Oliverio led the Royals with 18 points, while Cheyenne Logan compiled a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Maggie Stewart contributed 11 points and six rebounds.
 
Queens outrebounded Brevard 35-22 and led 16-13 in the assist category. The Royals outscored the Tornados 28-12 in the paint and slightly outscored the Brevard bench 8-2. The hosts blanked the visitors 7-0 in second-chance buckets while converting six points off 11 Brevard turnovers.
 
The Royals shot 41.7 percent from the floor (20-of-48) compared to a 46.5 percent shooting performance from the Tornados (20-of-43).
 
Previous Meeting
 
Miscenko complied her (then) 10th double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Wingate to a 65-51 triumph over Queens from The Levine Center and Curry Arena on Jan. 18.Two other Bulldogs posted double figures with senior guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) and senior forward Kristina Rumplasch (Mount Airy, N.C.) contributing 11 points each.
 
Rumplasch compiled a perfect five-for-five shooting percentage from the floor. Tricoli shot 75 percent from three-point range (three-of-four). Sophomore guard/forward Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) added nine points for the visitors.
 
The Bulldogs nearly swept every major statistical category in the contest, outrebounding Queens 36-24. The 'Dogs dominated the offensive boards by a convincing margin of 14-3. Wingate outscored Queens 40-26 in the paint, while the WU bench outscored the Royals substitutes 23-4. 
 
Wingate also finished 10-of-12 from the charity stripe (83 percent). The 'Dogs shot 43.3 percent from the floor (26-of-60) compared to Queens' 44.2 percent field goal clip (19-of-43). The Bulldogs compiled eight steals and four blocks, while converting 10 points off 15 Royal turnovers. The hosts finished 10-0 in fast-break points and 14-4 in second-chance buckets.
 
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.)