Wingate, N.C.--- The Wingate University Bulldogs dominated the glass Tuesday morning, holding a 48-28 rebound advantage over the Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears in front of nearly 1,000 local elementary school students on Future Bulldog Day in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldogs improve to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the SAC, while the Bears drop to 2-6 overall and 0-3 in league play.

THOUGHTS FROM ASSISTANT COACH KATELYN GRISILLO

"It's always good to end in a win. LR is one of those teams we knew coming in that would pose a problem. They're tough, both physically and mentally. They always do well on the boards and they always make you think a little bit offensively with their defense, and that will slow you down. At halftime our sense of urgency was matching up on them in transition and then we didn't feel like we had a big enough gap on the boards. We really stressed that and I thought our team did really well on that in the second half, being more aware of where their shooters are."

"They have a lot of threats out there and we ended up beating them by 20 on the boards, so this was nice to see. Destiny came along huge in the second half. Teliyah coming in like always, getting those six blocks. Hannah getting it done from behind the arc. Bryanna had the typical double-double which she is expected to do each night. It takes a team effort and I thought that was nice to see after that big win against Carson-Newman, to not let up. That's kind of the trademark of a young team, to let off a little bit, and it wasn't pretty, but we got the job done and that is what it is all about."

KEY STATS

- Wingate shot 44.3 percent from the field on the day, Lenoir-Rhyne shot 43.3 percent
- The Bulldogs shot 64 percent (seven-for-11) from three-point range, the Bears shot 36 percent from beyond the arc (eight-for-22)
- WU held a dominant 48-28 rebounding advantage
- The Bulldogs had a 28-20 edge in points in the paint
- WU had the 19-5 advantage in second-chance points
- The 'Dogs turned the ball over 19 times, while the Bears had 14
- Wingate converted those 14 turnovers into 17 points
- The Bulldogs hit 12-of-21 at the free throw line, while LR went seven-for-16

KEY BULLDOGS

- Bryanna Troutman had 20 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal
- Destiney Coleman added 16 points, going five-for-five at the charity stripe
- Hannah Clark contributed 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists
- Jasmine Stephen had 11 points and five assists
- Teliyah Jeter added eight points, 13 rebounds, six blocks, two assists and two steals

NOTES

- Wingate moves to 45-16 all-time against Lenoir-Rhyne
- WU is 25-5 when facing the Bears at home
- The Bulldogs shot a season high 63.6 percent from beyond the arc
- The seven made threes are the second most this season
- 18 assists for Wingate is a season high
- Troutman's fifth career double-double
- Troutman adds a career-high 20 points
- Jeter has three or more blocks in six of nine games this season
- This is the eighth time Wingate WBB has hosted Future Bulldog Day
- 916 children from local elementary schools were in attendance

FIRST QUARTER

- A Stephen's jumper three minutes in tied the game at 4-4
- The Bulldogs would gain the lead off a Clark three at the 5:57 mark
- Coleman added a jumper at the midway point to make it a 12-8 WU advantage
- LR took a 14-12 lead on a Laney Fox jumper with 3:34 to go
- Troutman had the immediate response with a layup on the other end to tie it at 14
- The Bulldog defense would keep the Bears off the board for the next three minutes
- A Daphney Saylor layup with just under two minutes remaining gave Wingate the two-point advantage
- With 23 seconds remaining a pair of Madeline Hardy free throws tied it at 16

SECOND QUARTER

- Wingate came out firing with a pair of Troutman buckets making it 20-16
- A Jaia Wilson layup with 7:03 remaining gave WU a 24-20 advantage
- Midway through the frame a Kiara Moore jumper gave LR a 27-26 edge
- After regaining the lead with 4:11 on the clock, the Bulldogs would not give up a basket the remainder of the frame
- The 'Dogs capped the scoring with layups from Stephen and Jeter, going into half with a 32-27 lead

THIRD QUARTER

- By the midway point of the Bulldogs had extended their lead to eight on a Clark triple
- Lenoir-Rhyne answered with a Hardy three-pointer and a Ashley Woodroffe jumper
- The teams traded threes on the next four trips, with Troutman and Clark connecting for WU
- A Laney Fox free throw with 2:48 to go got Lenoir-Rhyne within two at 46-44
- Wingate finished the frame on a 7-1 run
- A Coleman three would cap the scoring for the Bulldogs, making it 53-45

FOURTH QUARTER

- Jeter bucket put WU on top by six with just under seven minutes to go
- Fox answered with a three to cut the lead in half on the other end
- The 'Dogs scored the next six, taking a 67-57 lead on two Coleman buckets and a Jeter layup
- Stephen's bucket at the 2:47 mark gave the Bulldogs a 71-59 advantage
- LR scored the next eight, making it 71-67 on a Nakia Hooks layup with 30 seconds left
- Stephen and Troutman connected on free throws down the stretch to ice the victory

UP NEXT

- Wingate will return to SAC play Thursday, Jan. 2, traveling to Catawba at 2 p.m.
- The Bulldogs will host Mars Hill Saturday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.