named SAC Player of the Week
ROCK HILL, S.C. — Newberry College's Helen McKinney has been named the South Atlantic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week for the week ending December 5, 2010.
McKinney, a senior guard/forward from Owensboro, Ky. (Brescia University), scored 20-plus points in two of the Wolves’ three games last week, leading the scarlet and gray to three straight wins including an upset of No. 23 Tusculum College.
She averaged 20.7 points. 8.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, as she helped the Wolves cap a span of four games in seven days with a perfect 4-0 record (Newberry also beat Pfeiffer on the road last Saturday).
McKinney had two double-doubles during the three game span, grabbing 11 rebounds and scoring 24 points against North Greenville and 10 rebounds and 16 points against Tusculum.
McKinney has quickly risen to the top as the leading scorer for the South Atlantic Conference after scoring 62 points during this week’s games. McKinney is a first team Preseason All-SAC pick after second team honors in 2009-10.
Game Recaps and Notes from around SAC
ANDERSON – The Trojans earned two wins last week, defeating Winston-Salem State, 53-48, to avenge an earlier setback to the Lady Rams, then followed up with a 63-52 home win past Brevard in their conference opener on Saturday to stretch their win streak to three games … Senior guard Ashley Abed led the Trojans on the week by averaging a team-high 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, connecting on 8-of-16 shots from the field, and hit 16-of-18 (88.9 percent) of her free throws in the pair of wins … Led by Abed’s 21 points, the Trojans ended a two-week layoff by downing Winston-Salem on Thursday, earning a victory in their first road game of the year … Anderson never trailed throughout the contest after Abed and sophomore Tilde Ahlin combined to score the first nine points of the game. The Lady Rams pulled within one point with just more than 13 minutes remaining, but AU built a double-digit cushion with 2:39 on the clock to claim the win … Ahlin and senior guard Lauren Beeson each added eight points, while guard Alexa Neal shared game-high rebounding honors with Abed, as each pulled down seven boards … The Trojans posted a successful SAC debut in the win past Brevard as the Trojans snapped a 17-17 tie to push out to a 28-21 lead with 5:55 remaining in the first half. Brevard quickly trimmed AU’s lead to just two at the 3:36 mark, before AU closed the half with a 7-0 outburst to lead 38-29 at the half … The run carried over into the second half, growing into a 21-5 surge, giving AU an 18-point lead midway through the second frame … Anderson is in the midst of a six-day layoff for final exams before opening up a five-game road stretch with a SAC matchup on the road at Mars Hill.
BREVARD – The Tornados went 1-2 this week in three games … They opened up the week on the road against the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs … The Tornados took down the Bulldogs 71-61 at the Justice Center on UNC-Asheville’s campus … Anna Schlobohm led Brevard with 13 points against the Bulldogs while Amanda Whitaker was able to pull down a season-high nine rebounds against UNC-Asheville … The Tornados opened their home schedule with the Erskine Flying Fleet on Tuesday night and fell 77-74 at Boshamer Gymnasium … Holli Flippo led Brevard with a season-high 19 points against the Fleet, while Lindsay Brendle put up 18 points of her own and pulled down seven rebounds in the Tornados loss to Erskine … Brevard traveled to Anderson University to start their South Atlantic Conference schedule on Saturday afternoon … The Tornados were upended 63-52 at the Abney Athletic Center as Flippo led the Tornados in scoring for the second straight game, with 11 points … Amanda Whitaker led Brevard with six rebounds as the Tornados fell to 4-6 overall and 0-1 in South Atlantic Conference play with the loss.
CARSON-NEWMAN – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles went 1-1 on the week, defeating Maryville College 72-54 on Wednesday before opening South Atlantic Conference play with a 68-65 loss at Catawba on Saturday ... The Lady Eagles had no trouble taking an early 20-8 lead over Maryville thanks to freshman forward Shannon Depew and senior guard Katilin Moore ... Depew had a breakout game for the Lady Eagles, recording her first double-double in the Orange and Blue with 19 points and 14 rebounds with five blocks ... Moore had 13 points ... Senior guard Mandy Mendenhall scored some big baskets to help the Lady Eagles pull away down the stretch ... Mendenhall finished with 10 points … Sophomore guard Candis Clear had eight points and five assists ... A late rally by the Lady Eagles came up short on Saturday in their SAC opener at Catawba ... The Lady Eagles trailed 56-50 midway through the second half before battling back to take a 59-58 lead on a pair of made free throws by Mendenhall ... The lead then changed hands four more times before Catawba's Milica Ivanovic sank the game-winning basket with eight seconds remaining that gave the Indians a 66-65 lead ... Ivanovic then stole the ensuing inbounds pass to seal the win ... Mendenhall fired in 19 points and added four rebounds, four steals and three assists to lead the Lady Eagles, while Courdne Miles pitched in 17 points and seven rebounds ... Clear added 10 points in the loss ... The Lady Eagles, now 3-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference, return to action Wednesday as they will host No. 2 Lander at 6 p.m.
CATAWBA – The Lady Indians opened league play on Saturday with a 68-85 win over Carson-Newman ... Milica Ivanovic hit a go-ahead layup with seven seconds left then stole the ensuing inbounds pass to lift Catawba ... Anna Dellapenta iced the game with a pair of free throws with two seconds to play ... Ivanovic and Dana Hicks each posted double-doubles for the Lady Indians ... Ivanovic had 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Hicks notched her eighth straight double-double with 21 points and 10 boards ... Catawba was a +7 in turnover margin during the game and helped force four in the final three minutes while committing none ... The Lady Indians fell 101-88 at Livingstone on Wednesday ... Livingstone enjoyed a 54-38 edge on the boards and had 29 second-chance points off 25 offensive rebounds ... Hicks posted 24 points with 11 rebounds, while Kisha Long added 21 points and five assists ... Elizabeth Merritt tallied a career-high 20 points in the loss ... Hicks is averaging 20 points and 10.8 rebounds this season ... Catawba is shooting 42 percent for the year and holding its opponents to 38 percent ... The Lady Indians are also nearly a +4 in rebounding margin.
LENOIR-RHYNE – The Lenoir-Rhyne University women’s basketball team (4-3, 1-1) suffered two losses last week on the road to USC Aiken (70-41) and South Atlantic Conference-foe Mars Hill (87-79 in overtime) on Monday and Saturday, respectively … Against the Lady Pacers, the Bears were held to just 28 percent shooting (14-of-50) for the game and saw their four-game winning streak snapped … Junior forward Cameron Sealey (Mount Holly, N.C.) was the lone player to score in double figures for Lenoir-Rhyne, finishing with 13 points … The Lady Pacers also forced the Bears into 23 turnovers … Lenoir-Rhyne rallied from a 13-point deficit (44-31) early in the second half to force overtime before falling to the Lady Lions for the first time in 11 tries … Sealey finished with a game-high 30 points, one off tying her career-high, and her three free throws with four seconds left forced overtime tied a 72 … However, Mars Hill got a team-high 23 points from Brittini Young and 19 points, including seven in overtime, by Kristen Metcalf en route to the win … Freshman forward Whitney Brinkley (Asheville, N.C.) and sophomore forward Precious Elkins (Conyers, Ga.) added 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the Bears … Sealey (705 points) is on pace to becoming the 17th player in school history to cross the 1,000-point mark for her career … Lenoir-Rhyne does not play again until Thursday, December 16, against USC Aiken beginning at 2 p.m.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL – The Lincoln Memorial University women's basketball team used a second-half surge to pull out the 78-73 win over King Wednesday evening … LMU (4-1) was led by Dayshalee Salaman's 27 points, six rebounds and six assists … Patrice Talley added in 17 points and a game-high ten rebounds … King came from behind to lead 35-29 at the half … The second half saw five lead changes and three ties before LMU was able to grab the lead off a three-pointer by Salaman with nine minutes left … King cut the lead to two on a couple of occasions but LMU held on for the 78-73 victory … The difference in the game was behind the three-point arc where the Lady Railsplitters blistered King 31.8 percent to 16.7 percent … A second-half spurt by Wingate enabled them to pull ahead of LMU and hold on for the 77-67 South Atlantic Conference victory Saturday afternoon … LMU (4-2, 0-1 SAC) was led by Dayshalee Salaman's 19 points. Patrice Talley added in 15 points and nine rebounds … The first half saw five ties and eight lead changes before ending in a 32-32 tie at the half … Wingate then went on an 11-2 run mid-waty through the second half and never looked back as they held on for the 77-67 win … The Lady Railsplitters will now have ten days off to concentrate on finals and prepare for their SAC home opener vs. Catawba on Dec. 14.
MARS HILL – The Mars Hill women's basketball team defeated Lenoir-Rhyne in overtime by a score of 87-79 to improve to 5-1 overall, 1-0 in the South Atlantic Conference … Brittini Young added a team-high 23 points for Mars Hill. With the performance, she moved into 10th place on the school's all-time scoring list and now has 1,410 points … Mars Hill will host Anderson next Saturday. Tipoff from Stanford Arena is set for 2 p.m.
NEWBERRY – The Newberry College Wolves had a spectacular week, going 3-0 to run their record to 5-2 overall … The Wolves completed a tough stretch of four games in seven days with a perfect 4-0 record … On Tuesday, Newberry dominated the second half on the way to a 75-54 win over North Greenville … Helen McKinney had a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Leeara Creet scored 12 points and Jessica Bearzatto netted 12 points … Leanne Watson scored seven points and had 11 rebounds … On Thursday, every player who dressed for the Wolves played at least 10 minutes, and everyone scored in a 92-39 rout of Allen … McKinney once again led all scorers with 22 … Brittany Brown scored 14, while Creet had 10 points and seven rebounds … Devanee Taylor scored 10 points off the bench … Newberry’s most impressive win of the bunch came on Saturday, as the Wolves took down No. 23 Tusculum, 62-55, to earn their first SAC victory of the season … McKinney had another double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, but snapped her streak of four straight 20-plus point performances … Bearzatto scored 13 points and Briana Johnson had 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench … Tusculum’s Jasmine Gunn scored 30 points and the Pioneers led by seven at the half, but Newberry outscored the guests 40-26 in the second half … Newberry is idle until Dec. 16, when the Wolves will travel to North Georgia.
TUSCULUM – The Pioneers defeated King 64-46 Monday night, then opened SAC play with a 62-55 loss Saturday afternoon at Newberry to drop to 3-4 overall this season ... Senior guard Jasmine Gunn (Nashville, Tenn.) connected on a career-high 14 field goals and scored a season-high 30 points against Newberry, the eighth 30-point game of her career. She has moved into ninth place on the SAC career scoring list with 1,760 points ... Junior forward Staci Hicks (Loveland, Ohio) led the Pioneers with 20 points and eight rebounds in the victory over King, marking the second straight game she reached the 20-point plateau ... Junior forward Linda Aughburns (Fayetteville, N.C.) pulled 10 rebounds against King and added 11 boards at Newberry. She leads the team with an average of 9.9 rebounds per game and has reached double figures five times in seven contests ... In each of Tusculum's seven games, the team that has finished with fewer turnovers has earned the victory ... Tusculum will host King on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in Pioneer Arena, the team's first home game of the year. The Pioneers have traveled a total of 2,158 miles by bus so far this season, roughly the distance from Greeneville to Palm Springs, California.
WINGATE – The Wingate University women’s basketball team won two games last week, including a 77-67 SAC triumph over Lincoln Memorial University Saturday … In the LMU contest, junior guard Kurie Washington had 20 points, leading four double-figure scorers for the home-standing Bulldogs. The triumph gives Wingate head coach Barbara Nelson 499 coaching victories … Washington hit 13-of-14 from the free throw line on the afternoon to lead the Wingate attack. Freshman guard Janitsha Williams added 13 points and seven rebounds, while junior forward Simone Rutledge had 13 points and five boards. Senior guard CC Brooks had 11 points and five steals, while freshman forward Chantal Dunbar had eight points and a career-high 13 rebounds … The Bulldogs shot 41.2 percent from the field against LMU, while hitting three-of-seven from three-point range (42.9 percent). LMU shot 41.7 percent, while hitting seven-of-19 shots from beyond the arc (36.8 percent). The Bulldogs held a huge advantage at the free throw line, knocking down 32-of-39 free throws on the afternoon (82.1 percent). Wingate also held a 40-30 rebounding advantage … On Thursday, Brooks posted a season-high 22 points as the Bulldogs rallied for an 80-71 NCAA Division II road victory over North Greenville University. Brooks also dished out six assists. Rutledge recorded a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds in 33 minutes. Dunbar had a career-high 15 points. Dunbar also corralled nine rebounds … Washington leads the Bulldogs with her 17.2 points per game. The two-time All-SAC selection has 1024 career points entering Wingate’s exam break. She joined the 1000-point club during Wingate’s road victory at North Greenville. The McDowell High School product has three 20-plus point performances this season … Rutledge averaged 14.0 points per game and 9.5 rebounds last week. She hit 64.7 percent of her field goals (11-of-17) during the week. On the season, the Tennessee Tech transfer is averaging 14 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game. Five Bulldogs average between 8.3 points per game and 6.6 points per game. Williams leads this contingent with her 8.3 points per game. Brooks is close behind at 8.0 points per game. Washington and Rutledge are the only Bulldogs to start every game this season.
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