February 18, 2009

MARS HILL, N.C. - A furious Mars Hill second half comeback led by Brittini Young (Ramseur, N.C.) came up short as Wingate won 79-64 Wednesday night inside Stanford Arena. The Bulldogs improve to 15-9 overall and 6-7 in the SAC. The Lions drop to 12-13 overall and 5-9 in the SAC.

Wingate grabbed an early 7-2 lead two minutes into the game off an old-fashioned three-point play by Anna Atkinson (Marion, N.C.). A Taylor Deal (Catawba, N.C.) free throw cut the deficit to 10-8 at the 16:04 mark.

The Bulldogs switched to a full court press to speed up the game, and it paid dividends. The Lions committed three straight turnovers, while Wingate went on a 9-0 run and grabbed a 19-8 advantage with 14:37 left in the half off an old-fashioned three-point play by Stefani Shuey (Charlotte, N.C.).

The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 14 points, 27-13, off back-to-back treys by Kurie Washington (Marion, N.C.). From that point, Wingate went on a 24-9 run. Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, Ga.) hit a running layup with no time left on the clock to end the period, but the Bulldogs led 51-22 at halftime.

Washington had 16 points in the first half and was 6-9 from the field. Wingate hit 54.1% (20-37) from the field, while Mars Hill hit only 30% (9-30) from the floor.

Both teams went scoreless in the second half until the 16:27 mark when Shuey grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in the bucket to give Wingate a 53-22 advantage.

Mars Hill tried to make a comeback midway through the second half. Young hit back-to-back three pointers as part of a 12-2 run to make the score 55-34 with 13:13 left in the game, but Wingate stretched its lead back out to 26 points, 64-38, off a shot from behind the arc by Washington with 9:58 left in the game.

Bria Smith (Snellville, Ga.) found Jessica Blanford (Concord, N.C.) under the basket for two points, and the Lions cut the deficit to 19 points, 64-45, with 8:21 to go in the game. Trailing 68-47, Mars Hill went on a 14-4 run. Young scored eight straight points to conclude the run, but Wingate led 72-61 with 2:01 left in the game. The Lions would get no closer.

Washington led Wingate with 25 points. Atkinson scored 17 points and was 6-10 from the field.

Young scored a game-high 26 points with 20 of them coming in the second half. Blanford had 11 points in the game to raise her career scoring total to 1,042 points.

Mars Hill will travel to Tusculum on February 25. Tip-time is set for 6 p.m.

Season Stats...

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