Friday, March 2, 2001

Wingate women get past Blue Hose, advance to SAC championship game

HICKORY, NC – Tricia Peckham scored 23 points to lead four Wingate University players in double figures as the third-seeded Bulldogs defeated No. 2 seed Presbyterian College 76-67 in a semifinal game at the 2001 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament Friday night at the CVCC Multipurpose Complex.

Wingate improved to 23-5 and will face top seed Catawba College, which defeated Lenoir-Rhyne College 65-61 earlier Friday, in the 2 p.m. title game on Saturday. The Blue Hose fell to 22-8 and they will learn on Sunday if they will make the 48-team NCAA Division II Tournament.

The Wingate defense held the Blue Hose to just 36.9 percent shooting (24-of-65) for the game, including just 31.4 percent (11-of-35) in the second half. Offensively, the Bulldogs shot 57.1 percent (28-of-49) for the game, including 59.3 percent (16-of-27) in the first half as they took a 38-33 halftime lead.

PC outscored the Bulldogs 14-6 at the start of the second half to take a 48-44 lead with 15:38 remaining on a 3-pointer by Tracy Woody. Wingate battled back and took the lead for good at 55-53 on a Peckham 3-pointer with 9:58 to play. The Bulldogs pushed their lead up to as many as seven points (62-55), before the Blue Hose rallied back to cut the lead to 63-61 on a shot by Rachel Sloan. Dawkins scored the next four points for the Bulldogs, while the Blue Hose missed their next four shots and could not get any closer. Presbyterian made just one of its final seven shots.

Elizabeth Biedrycki came off the bench to score 14 points and grab nine rebounds for the Bulldogs. Kimmy Edwards also added 14 points and Temeshia Dawkins scored 11 despite being plagued with foul trouble.

Rachel Sloan, who was named the South Atlantic Conference Women’s Player of the Year, led Presbyterian with 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Toni Leopard added 18 for the Blue Hose.

WINGATE (23-5) Rogers 0-1 0-0 0, Laettner 3-5 0-0 6, Dawkins 3-3 5-6 11, Peckham 8-16 5-7 23, Edwards 4-9 5-7 14, Biedrycki 7-10 0-0 14, Boggess 2-4 0-0 4, Dailey 1-1 2-2 4, Law 0-0 0-0 0, Crutchfield 0-0 0-0 0, Cooper 0-0 0-0 0, Ezzell 0-0 0-0 0, Patterson 0-0 s0-0 0. Team 28-49 17-22 76.

PRESBYTERIAN (22-8) Sloan 6-14 8-9 20, Leopard 6-16 4-5 18, Davis 3-12 0-0 6, Werner 3-5 0-0 6, Woody 2-11 2-4 7, Choice 0-2 0-0 0, Misner 1-1 0-0 2, Chittam 3-4 0-0 8, Parnell 0-0 0-0 0. Team 24-65 14-18 67.

Halftime-Wingate 38, PC 33. 3-point field goals-Wingate 3-6 (Peckham 2-3, Edwards 1-1, Boggess 0-2), PC 5-28 (Sloan 0-2, Leopard 2-9, Davis 0-5, Werner 0-1, Woody 1-7, Choice 0-1, Chittam 2-3). Total rebounds-Wingate 35 (Biedrycki 9), PC 32 (Sloan 13). Personal fouls-Wingate 18, PC 17. Fouled out-none. Technical fouls-none. Assists-Wingate 17 (Edwards 6), PC 15 (Werner 6). Turnovers-Wingate 15, PC 10. Steals-Wingate 3 (Edwards 2), PC 4 (Four with 1). A-623.

QUOTES

PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE COACH BETH COUTURE:

“I feel that Wingate has really improved and it showed tonight. They are playing hot right now. We gave them one shot and then they got four offensive rebounds. We couldn’t find anyone to score. We got good shots, but we couldn’t knock them down.”

WINGATE UNIVERSITY COACH JOHNNY JACUMIN:

“Our kids stepped up. You can never shut PC down. You can only contain them and we did tonight. We showed them a zone in the first half that messed their head up. They got one look at the basket and (Elizabeth) Biedrycki cleared the boards. Temeshia (Dawkins) had three fouls and Biedrycki stepped up. We shot the ball exceptionally well. We have been playing much better basketball.”