Lenoir-Rhyne, Wingate to Meet in SAC Basketball Championship Women's Title Game

No. 1 Lenoir-Rhyne 74, No. 4 Carson-Newman 74

[Watch Replay]

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Paced by 21 points from South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Jazmine Charles, top seed Lenoir-Rhyne held off fourth-seeded Carson-Newman 75-74 in the semifinals of the 2014 Food Lion SAC Women's Basketball Championship Saturday evening at Timmons Arena.

With the victory, the Bears advance to Sunday's championship with a conference-best 24 wins. The Eagles await their tournament fate on Sunday as they drop to 16-13 for the year.

Charles finished the contest 6-of-15 from the field, including a 7-for-8 performance from the free throw line while pulling down seven rebounds. Teammate Jenni Gust added 15 points - 13 coming in the final period of play. Brittany Christian tallied 10 points in 15 minutes of action.

Carson-Newman recorded four players in double figures, led by guard Jai Jai McLaughlin with 17 points and seven assists. SAC Freshman of the Year Kaitlyn Cupples added a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, including 12 on the defensive side. With the rebound total, the Eagles won the battle underneath, 48-44.

C-N's Lashawnda Peacher tallied 15 points and Tatum Burstrom posted 11 points. For the game, the Eagles shot 38.6 percent from the floor, including a 40 percent mark in the final half.

The outside shooting of Lenoir-Rhyne propelled the Bears, shooting 9-of-17 (52.9 percent) for the contest. Gust buried three 3-pointers for the afternoon, while Charles, Christian and Jordan Hiatt all chipped in two.

After L-R took a commanding 12-point lead in the opening nine minutes, the Eagles began the chip into the deficit, eventually tying and taking the lead at the 5:36 mark when Cupples dropped in a pair of free throws. Being on the opposite end of the scoreline for the first time, the Bears eventually grabbed the lead back when Charles connected on two free throws with 4:17 remaining.

C-N's Whitney Kyle evened the score once again, but Charles answered with another free throw as L-R held a lead for the remainder of the period, taking a 32-28 advantage into halftime.

Lenoir-Rhyne would extend its lead to as high as four to open the second half, but C-N would answer the small Bear spurt, tying the game at the 16:05 points and against with 14:43 left. Christian knocked in another 3-pointer to give L-R a lead it would not give up.

The Eagles closed the gap to one point seven times until the 2:57 mark, eventually evening the game at 72-72. Facing the Eagle comeback, Gust answered once again with a 3-pointer, giving L-R a 75-72 lead with 2:42 remaining.

After McLaughin made two free throws with more than two minutes remaining, the game failed to see another basket as the Eagles had just one possession for the remainder of the contest. Peacher tried an isolation play to her right and her jumper fell short as L-R claimed the berth into Sunday's championship.

No. 2 Wingate 70, No. 6 Anderson

[Watch Replay]

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Wingate's Kayla Harris and Amber Neely each recorded a double-double as the second-seeded Bulldogs eliminated sixth-seeded Anderson 70-59 Saturday evening in the semifinals of the 2014 Food Lion SAC Women's Basketball Championship at Timmons Arena.

Wingate advances to Sunday's championship where it will meet top seed Lenoir-Rhyne for a 4 p.m. tip-off. With the victory, the Bulldogs improve to 23-5 for the season, while the Trojans close their season with a 16-14 record. With the setback, AU snaps a four-game tournament winning streak having won the tournament title a season ago.

The duo of Harris and Neely combined for 32 points and 24 rebounds, as they were one of three Bulldogs to score in double figures. Joining Harris with 18 points was Janitsha Williams on 6-of-11 shooting and five made free throws. As a team, the Bulldogs shot 36.4 percent (20-for-55) from the field.

Anderson hung around for the majority of the contest, but cold shooting towards the end of the second half proved costly in the 11-point loss. Senior Emily Willoughby dropped in four 3-pointers en route to her team-high 16 points in 15 minutes. Guards Heather Jankowy and Lesley Woods also found double digits with 12 points and 11 points, respectively. Sierra Simpson grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds, despite playing the point guard position.

The Bulldogs began the game with a 6-0 run and maintained the lead throughout the opening half. The Trojans would come as close as two three times in the opening 20 minutes, but was unable to even the score. The second-seed would take their largest lead at the 3:30 mark when Harris knocked in a pair of free throws, taking the score to 33-24. Facing the lead, AU chipped into the lead and made it a 34-29 deficit when Alexis Dillard scored a lay-up with four seconds remaining.

After tying the score in the second half when Jankowy made one of her two 3-pointers on the evening, Anderson took its first lead at 37-36 when Jankowy made a free throw. Following the basket, the teams traded the lead eight times in final half, playing the game's final tie at the 55-55 mark with 5:27 remaining.

Anderson found itself stuck with 55 for final moments of the game as the Bulldogs went on a 21-4 run to close out the game. During the run, Wingate finished 11-for-12 from the free throw line to propel the Bulldogs to win and the berth in Sunday's final.