Hickory, N.C.----Wingate University senior center Marta Miscenko (Riga, Latvia) had 20 points and nine rebounds, lifting the number 22 Bulldogs to a 55-43 South Atlantic Conference women's basketball victory over Lenoir-Rhyne University Wednesday night in Shuford Gymnasium. Wingate (20-3 overall) wins 20 games for the 26th time in the school's senior college history.
 
WU point guard Courtney Robinson (Taylors, S.C.) filled up her stat sheet with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds as the visiting Bulldogs won their ninth consecutive game. For Lenoir-Rhyne, senior guard Cassidy Joyner (Dobson, N.C.) had 15 points on the strength of a game-high three three-point field goals. She scored 11 of her 15 points after halftime.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
Score: #22 Wingate 55, Lenoir-Rhyne 43
Records: #22 Wingate 20-3 overall (14-2 SAC), Lenoir-Rhyne 14-12 overall (8-10 SAC)
Location: Shuford Gymnasium, Hickory, N.C.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
 
-Wingate never trailed, building a 12-point lead in the third quarter.
-The Bulldogs outscored the Bears 28-12 in the paint.
-Wingate had 17 assists on 22 made baskets. Juniors Danasia Witherspoon (Hickory, N.C.) and Taylor Helms (Monroe, N.C.) supported Robinson's generosity with four assists each.
-Miscenko had a game-high five blocked shots.
-Lenoir-Rhyne outrebounded Wingate by a slim 32-31 margin.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
First Quarter
 
Wingate led 11-8 after the first 10 minutes. Both teams made four field goals. The Bulldogs made two triples, one by Robinson and one by junior guard Caroline Averette (Midlothian, Va.). Robinson led both teams with her five first-quarter points.
 
Second quarter
 
A lay-up by Miscenko gave Wingate a 21-11 lead with 1:32 left in the second stanza. The Bears scored the final four points of the half as the Bulldogs made two turnovers in the last 40 seconds of play. Lenoir-Rhyne made only two-of-11 field goals in the second quarter (18.2 percent). Wingate made five-of-10 (50 percent). Miscenko and Robinson had seven points each in the first half for the visitors, while Joyner led LRU with four first-half points.
 
Third quarter
 
A three-pointer by Averette gave Wingate a 40-28 advantage with 70 seconds left, its largest lead of the contest. Joyner hit her third three-pointer of the quarter (and the game) with 13 seconds to go, making the score 40-31 Wingate entering the final 10 minutes. Joyner had nine third-quarter points, while Miscenko scored eight in the same time span.
 
Fourth Quarter

A bucket by LRU junior guard/forward Madi Suddreth (Taylorsville, N.C.) trimmed the Bear deficit to 46-39 with 5:55 remaining. Wingate's Helms responded on the other end with a three-point field goal to stretch the margin back to 10. Lenoir-Rhyne would get no closer than eight in the waning moments. Miscenko had five points for Wingate, while Suddreth led Lenoir-Rhyne with four markers.
 
TURNING POINT
 
Wingate made three-of-three from downtown in the third quarter, stretching its lead to 12 points.
 
NOTABLES
 
-Wingate is the number two team in the Feb. 14 edition of the NCAA Division II Southeast Region top 10 poll. Carson-Newman (24-1 overall) is first, followed by Wingate, North Georgia, Lander and Barton rounding out the top five. Anderson (seventh) and Tusculum (10th) also represent the South Atlantic Conference.
-Witherspoon played her high school basketball at Hickory High.
-Miscenko played a team-high 37 minutes, while Witherspoon (35), Robinson (35) and Averette (34) were not too far behind.
-Miscenko (963 career points) and Witherspoon (950 career points) are approaching the 1000-point plateau.
 
QUOTABLES
 
Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock: "Lenoir-Rhyne is a very good team who plays extremely hard. They made us work for everything we got tonight. We had some folks step up and make some big plays when we needed them. Taylor and Courtney made some big threes and sophomore forward Jordan Quick (High Point, N.C.) made a big basket when it seemed like we couldn't score. We need to do a better job on the boards."
 
NEXT ON THE AGENDA

Wingate hosts Anderson Saturday at 2 p.m. in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court. On Saturday, the Wingate women's basketball team will sponsor a Be the Match bone marrow registry drive from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. in the Cannon Athletic Complex and Cuddy Arena. Anyone ages 18-44 can be added to the registry.