Rock Hill, S.C.----The fourth-seeded Wingate University Bulldogs used an incredible 25-3 run to close out the first half Friday afternoon en route to an 85-69 victory over third-seeded Carson-Newman University in the championship game of the 2024 South Atlantic Conference women's basketball tournament. The 'Dogs claim their 11th SAC tournament championship, improving to 22-9 overall, while the Eagles fall to 22-9 on the season.

NOTES

- League-best 11th SAC Tournament championship
- Wingate also has 13 regular season SAC titles
- Conference-best 24 total SAC championships
- First SAC Tourney title since 2017
- The 2017 championship was the fourth in a six-year span that started in 2012
- The most recent regular season title came in the 2021-22 season
- The Bulldogs also played in the SAC championship games in 2018 and 2019
- Hannah Clark was named the SAC Tournament MVP
- She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Laney Beale and Anna Baraldi
- The championship gives the 'Dogs the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament
- Wingate will be making its second straight NCAA Tourney appearance and SAC-best 21st of all-time
- It will be the 11th tourney bid in the last 13 seasons for the Bulldogs

KEY STATS

- Wingate shot 46 percent from the field, going nine-for-21 from three-point range (43 percent)
- Carson-Newman shot 29 percent from the field, connecting on eight-of-36 from deep (22 percent)
- The 'Dogs went 22-for-24 at the free throw line while the Eagles were 15-for-18
- The Bulldogs held a 43-41 rebounding advantage; C-N had a 16-9 edge in second-chance points
- Wingate piled up 18 assists on 27 made field goals
- The WU bench out-scored the Carson-Newman bench 31-21
- The 'Dogs outscored the Eagles 25-8 in the second quarter

KEY BULLDOGS

- Beale had 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, going eight-for-10 from the field and two-for-three from deep
- Clark also had 18 points, adding four assists and three boards while knocking down three triples
- Baraldi scored a career-high 14 points on five-of-seven shooting
- Trinity Breedlove contributed 13 points, eight boards, two blocks and two assists
- Lia Anderson and Lauren Sullivan added six points apiece
- Jaia Wilson had three points, four boards and three assists

FIRST QUARTER

- A Lindsey Taylor triple gave the Eagles a 5-2 lead three minutes in
- A Clark three and Beale jumper put the 'Dogs on top 7-5
- Another Clark triple, along with an Emily Hege layup gave WU a four-point lead at the 3:20 mark
- A Campbell Penland jumper a minute later tied it at 13
- A Makayla Alvey steal and layup at the buzzer gave C-N an 18-16 advantage

SECOND QUARTER

- A Brealyn Wykle three gave the Eagles a 23-16 lead two minutes into the second
- Wingate would then go on the game-changing run, which started with a 17-0 spurt
- The Bulldogs held the Eagles scoreless for nearly six minutes
- A Clark three, Beale jumper and Bethel Ekperigha three-point play started the flurry to put WU on top
- A Sullivan triple and Anderson layup gave Wingate a 33-23 lead, capping the 17-0 run
- C-N got an Alvey free throw, but the 'Dogs answered with two Clark free throws and a Beale triple to make it 38-24
- A Beale triple at the buzzer gave Wingate a 41-26 halftime lead, capping the emphatic 25-3 run

THIRD QUARTER

- Beale's layup 10 seconds into the second half stretched the lead to 17
- Breedlove added a bucket with 7:51 to go to make it 47-29
- Two Alvey free throws cut the lead to 13, but Wingate countered with a 7-0 run
- Sullivan buried a three in the spurt, while two Breedlove free throws made it 54-34
- A Penland triple pulled the Eagles within 10 in the final minute
- Two Breedlove free throws in the last second gave the 'Dogs a 58-46 advantage

FOURTH QUARTER

- Two Baraldi free throws and a Beale layup in the opening minute stretched the lead back to 16
- A Baraldi three with nine minutes left made it 65-48
- Baraldi added another jumper and a three to push the lead back to 20 at the 7:47 mark
- Penland's layup with 3:07 left capped a 9-0 run that pulled Carson-Newman with 10 at 77-67
- Four Breedlove free throws over the next minute pushed the lead back to 14
- Clark's layup with 1:05 to go made it 85-69

UP NEXT

- Wingate will learn its postseason future Sunday night when the NCAA Division II bracket is announced
- The bracket will be revealed live on NCAA.com Sunday night at 10:30 p.m.