Wingate Advances With 75-64 Win Over Presbyterian
HICKORY, N.C.- The second-seeded Wingate Bulldogs advanced to the semi-finals of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Basketball Tournament with a 75-64 win over seventh-seeded Presbyterian Friday evening at Lenoir-Rhyne College.
The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Julie Law (Lancaster, S.C.), Veronica Taylor (Columbia, S.C.) and Emily Paffrath (Bakersville, N.C.) who scored 13 points. Samantha Dailey (Huntington, W.Va.) added 11 points for the Bulldogs. PC was led in scoring by Billie Haskins (Greensboro, Ga.) who had 26 points. Cameron Cook (Greensboro, N.C.) had a double-double as she scored 15 points and added 10 rebounds.
The teams battled for the entire first half until PC took an 18-13 lead with 10:23 remaining on a basket by Haskins. The Bulldogs turned things around and took a 32-30 lead at the half when Petra Nagy (Budapest, Hungary) nailed a three-pointer with 45 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs, who shot 52% in the second half, built an 18-point lead with 10:21 remaining in the game on a lay-up by Cerrissa Griffin (Trenton, S.C.). The Blue Hose would cut the lead to nine points, 68-59, on a lay-up by Rebecca Wessinger (Laurens, S.C) at the 1:05 mark. But the Bulldogs hit their free throws in the final minute to claim the 75-64 win.
“We played much better in the second half,” said Wingate coach Johnny Jacumin. “We got a couple of layups off the break that caught them off guard. We were able to get a couple of sneaky baskets.”
The Bulldogs improve to 20-9 and will face Lenoir-Rhyne on March 5 at 8:30 p.m. at Catawba Valley Community College. PC ends their season with an 8-20 record.