BOX SCORE       POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

Hickory, N.C.----The top-seeded Wingate University Bulldogs held Catawba College to 23 percent shooting from the field en route to a 65-41 victory over the second-seeded Catawba College Indians as the Bulldogs claimed the seventh Food Lion SAC Women’s Basketball Tournament title in school history Sunday afternoon. Wingate receives the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, improving to 22-7 overall. Catawba falls to 18-10 overall and will hear its postseason fate during Sunday night’s selection show.
 
Wingate has won 11 SAC regular season crowns and seven Food Lion SAC tournament championships. On the national scene, Wingate leads the SAC with 12 appearances in the NCAA Division II national tournament. Wingate has an overall NCAA tourney record of 14-11 with Elite Eight appearances in 1995, 1996 and 2008.
 
“The win was really satisfying,” head coach Barbara Nelson says. “Catawba beat us twice in the regular season, and it was really nice to win the conference title against team that finished second. I think we were relaxed at the beginning of the game, but also very intense. We really wanted to win to earn that automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, even if we did play ourselves in during the regular season.”
 
Sophomore guard Janitsha Williams (Hickory, N.C.) led four Bulldogs in double figures with 16 points, hitting seven-of-12 shots from the field while also handing out three assists. Sophomore guard Nikki Burton (Charlotte, N.C.) added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs. The first team All-SAC selection earned SAC Tournament MVP honors. Senior guard Kurie Washington (Marion, N.C.) and junior guard Sarah Wollett (Raleigh, N.C.) added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Freshman guard Chloe Bully (Hannut, Belgium) led the Catawba attack with 14 points, but hit just five-of-16 shots from the field and two-of-10 attempts from three-point range. Senior forward Dana Hicks (York, S.C.) added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Indians. Wingate held first team All-SAC guard Nisha Long (Dallas, N.C.) to six points on one-of-14 shooting from the field. “I felt like it was probably the best defensive effort we’ve put together this year,” Nelson says. “If we play defense like that, and shoot like we did, we’ve got a good chance to win.”
 
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 11-6 lead, getting two early threes from Wollett. A jumper from senior guard Tiffany Brown (Cartersville, Ga.) and free throw from junior forward Tish Logan (Suitland, Md.) gave the ‘Dogs a 10-point lead with eight minutes remaining in the half. Catawba used a 5-0 run, with all five points coming from Hicks to cut the Wingate advantage to five at 20-15 with 2:30 remaining in the half. Washington answered with a triple, while a pair of free throws from freshman forward Brooklyn Boston (Lenoir, N.C.) gave the Bulldogs a 25-15 halftime lead.
 
Wingate used a 6-0 run to take a 14-point lead five minutes into the second half on a layup from Williams. A triple from Bully and a layup from Hicks trimmed the deficit to nine at 31-22. That would be the last time the lead would be in single digits. A three from Wollett, along with a pair of triples from Williams gave the Bulldogs a 15-point lead at the 10:33 mark.
 
Layups from Washington and Williams, followed by two Washington free throws put the Bulldogs on top by 20 with just under five minutes remaining. A bucket from freshman forward Sarah Burnick (Matthews, N.C.) gave Wingate its largest lead of the game at 65-39 with 54 seconds remaining.
 
The Bulldogs shot 48 percent from the field including 52 percent shooting in the second half. The Bulldogs also knocked down seven-of-13 from shots three-point range (53.8 percent). The Indians hit just 14-of-60 shots from the field to shoot 23.3 percent, which included 13.8 percent shooting in the first half. The Indians hit just three-of-25 shots from beyond the arc (12 percent). Wingate held a 39-37 rebounding advantage, while out-scoring Catawba 28-14 in the paint. The Bulldog bench outscored Catawba’s bench 34-8 on the day.
 
The Bulldogs will learn their postseason fate tonight at 10 p.m. when the NCAA Tournament field is revealed. The NCAA.com will provide a live video stream of the selection show. Wingate was ranked third in the most recent NCAA Southeast Region poll. “This year has been tough, with all the injuries, it’s been a really hard road,” Nelson says. “But I’ve got warriors on this team. I’m so proud of this team’s ability to hang in there, even when things don’t go well.”