Women's Basketball Runs Streak To Five After 73-68 Win At Wingate

WINGATE, N.C. -- Sara McIntosh scored 17 points and Catawba won for the fifth straight time since the holiday break, winning 73-68 at Wingate on Wednesday night at Cuddy Arena. The Catawba Indians run their record to 14-3 overall and 8-1 in the South Atlantic Conference. The Bulldogs fall to 11-6 and 4-4.

The game was tightly contested throughout with 11 ties and 11 lead changes. Both teams took their largest leads in the third quarter with Wingate going up at 39-33 in the opening minutes after the half. Catawba used a 12-0 run late in the period to take a 53-45 edge.

Catawba still led by eight inside the final five minutes when the Bulldogs cut the margin to 62-60 after a three-pointer by Lauren Sullivan with 4:21 left. Wingate had a chance to tie, but a steal by Lyrik Thorne led to a Janiya Downs basket and jumper by McIntosh with 1:47 remaining restored a 66-60 edge.

The Lady Indians made two of four free throws over the next minute and another three-pointer by Sullivan made it 68-65 with 45 seconds to go. McIntosh hit three-of-four at the stripe in the final 13 seconds to salt away the win for Catawba.

McIntosh hit on 7-of-9 shots in scoring her 17 points. She added seven rebounds. Thorne added 13 points and Nala Baker 10 off the bench. Downs grabbed 10 rebounds.

Bryanna Troutman had a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds for Wingate in the loss. Sullivan and Hannah Clark each scored 13.

Both teams shot 50% in the second half and finished at 46%. The Lady Indians held a 42-30 edge in rebounds with a dozen off the offensive glass that led to a 13-1 advantage in second-chance points. Although the turnovers were even at 16 apiece, Catawba enjoyed a 26-10 edge in scoring off the miscues.

Catawba is at home on Saturday, hosting Anderson at 2 p.m.