Greenville, S.C. – The Anderson women's basketball team came up just short on completing the upset over No. 2 Wingate falling, 53-50, in the South Atlantic Conference semifinal round on Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
With the loss, Anderson sits at 20-10 on the season, while the Bulldogs improve to 25-4. Wingate advances to the finals to face regular season champion Carson-Newman.
The Trojans were led by senior Kaylee Koerperich and sophomore Madison Baggett team-high nine points. Graduate student Alexis Dillard netted eight points while grabbing seven rebounds. The Defensive Player of the Year also recorded four blocked shots and two steals for the Black and Gold. Sophomore Alexy Mollenhauer scored seven points while ripping down 12 rebounds.
Capping off the scoring for the Trojans was junior Ace Easter (6), senior Jasmine Raynor and junior Erika Martin (5) and sophomore Makayla Green (1).
The Bulldogs placed one player in double-figures with Co-Player of the Year Marta Miscenko's game-high 21 points. Miscenko also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to complete the double-double.
The low scoring affair saw Anderson lead the majority of the minutes in the first half with the lead hovering around five points. The script flipped in the second half with Wingate leading the majority of the minutes taking its final lead at the 5:32 mark, 33-31, in the third period.
The Bulldogs led by as much as five, twice, before earning their largest lead of the game of seven in the fourth stanza with 5:11 to play.
Anderson chipped away using a made foul shot by Koerperich, a made jumper by Easter and a three-point basket to cut the lead to three with 3:29 to go in the game.
Wingate pushed the lead back to five on two made free throws before Easter scored back-to-back jumpers to pull within one. Easter was fouled on the second made basket with a chance to tie the game at 49-49. However, her free throw attempt just rimmed out leaving the Trojans with a one-point deficit with just under a minute to play.
Wingate's Miscenko made a short jumper to put the Bulldogs up three while AU's Koerperich made 1-of-2 free throws with 19 seconds to keep the game within reach. The Bulldog's Courtney Robinson converted her pair of free throws to give Wingate a four-point lead with 12 seconds to go.
In the waning seconds of the game, Wingate fouled Baggett with four ticks on the clock. Baggett made the first while intentionally missing the second. AU grabbed the miss and flung it around to Mollenhauer who just missed getting the 3-point shot off.
Anderson is currently ranked No.7 in the region awaiting its fate to see if the NCAA committee places them in the tournament with an at-large bid. The selection show is scheduled for 10 p.m. on Sunday.
