ANDERSON, S.C. The Anderson University women's basketball team celebrated senior night at the Abney Center with a tremendous win, 84-79, on Saturday afternoon snatching the No. 2 seed for the South Atlantic Conference Tournament.
With the win, Anderson improves to 21-5 overall and 18-4 in the league while Wingate drops to 22-5 overall and 18-4 in SAC play.
The Trojans placed four players in double-digits with senior Jasmine Franklin's game-high 24 points equaling her career-high point total scored at Catawba earlier this month. Franklin added eight rebounds and two steals. Fresh off of a career-high 28 point performance, freshman Alexy Mollenhauer netted 22 points while grabbing a game-high tying nine rebounds for the Black and Gold. Senior Heather Jankowy scored 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 3-of-7 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Jankowy added four assists and two steals in 35 minutes of action. Senior Nakia Young chipped in 13 points while grabbing four rebounds.
Capping off the scoring for the Black and Gold was junior Kaylee Koerperich (4), freshman Madison Baggett (3) and senior Bailey Sims (1). Baggett and Sims each ripped down five boards apiece.
Wingate had four double-digits scorers with Danasia Witherspoon leading all Bulldog scorers with 18 points and grabbing a game-high tying nine rebounds. Courtney Robinson and Caroline Averette each netted 13 points while Amber Neely chipped in 10 points.
After falling behind in the opening minutes by three points, the Trojans took command of the game through the third quarter. AU's Franklin scored a lay-up with two minutes remaining in the third period to give Anderson its largest lead the game, 58-39. The Bulldogs were able to cut into the lead to end the quarter down 14, 60-46.
Mollenhauer's two foul shots to begin the fourth quarter would be the last points for the Trojans over the next three minutes of play. Wingate took advantage of the lull running off 10 unanswered points to cut the lead to six, 62-56.
The Trojans pushed back extending the lead to eight with just under seven minutes to play. The Bulldogs kept nibbling at the heels of the Trojans eventually taking their first lead since the opening quarter, 67-66, with four and a half minutes to play.
Anderson took the lead right back on a made lay-up by Mollenhauer. The next minute and a half was back and forth with the lead until Franklin was fouled on a made lay-up capping off the three-point play with the made free throw to take the lead for good, 74-73. Wingate was forced to foul but Anderson went 6-of-8 down the stretch to defeat Wingate and lay claim to the second place finish in the league.
Head Coach Jonathon Barbaree's Thoughts: "I'm super proud of this team and really happy for the seniors to have a chance to go out on a win like this. Again, it was a great game against a top team. We will enjoy what we accomplished this week today, but tomorrow we have to get back to work. Thank you to the seniors and their families. Also, thankyou everyone who came out to support us this year. We will see you all Wednesday night."
EXTRA DRIBBLE
-During the week, Anderson defeated the No. 2 and No. 5 NCAA Southeast Regionally ranked teams.
-The Trojans snapped an 11 game win streak by the Bulldogs with their last loss coming on January 14th against the Black and Gold.
-Anderson posts an overall record of 5-4 when being outrebounded by its opponent.
UP NEXT
Anderson returns home on Wednesday to host Catawba in the SAC quarterfinal. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
The 2017 South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinals will be played at campus sites on Wednesday, March 1 before moving to Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. for the semifinals and finals on March 4 and 5. The South Atlantic Conference's Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament. The Conference Championship schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, March 1 (at Highest Seeds)
Game 1: #1 Lincoln Memorial vs. Queens, 6:00pm
Game 2: #4 Carson-Newman vs. #5 Newberry, 6:00pm
Game 3: #2 Anderson vs. #7 Catawba, 7:00pm
Game 4: #3 Wingate vs. #6 Lenoir-Rhyne, 6:00pm
Saturday, March 4 (Timmons Arena, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 5: winner game 1 vs. winner game 2, Noon
Game 6: winner game 3 vs. winner game 4, 2:30pm
Sunday, March 5 (Timmons Arena, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 7: winner game 5 vs. winner game 6, 1:00pm
