Box Score
by John Hackney
WILSON, N.C.-After waiting a long time to get its 2012-13 season under way, the Barton College women's basketball team debuted with a convincing 81-53 Conference Carolinas victory over visiting North Greenville University in the Dog House on Saturday night.
Barton will play its final six games of 2012 on the road, beginning against Lenoir-Rhyne in the Catawba Classic on Nov. 23. North Greenville fell to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in league action.
Junior point guard Nyeshea Willie ignited the Barton attack with a fantastic performance that included 32 points, nine steals, five assists and five rebounds. The two-time All-Conference honoree was just one point shy of her career-high 33 points she scored against the same Crusaders program in last year's regular season meeting.
Senior forward Jolanda Mitchell scored 11, senior forward Shante Neal contributed 10 points and junior forward Briana Terry tallied nine. North Greenville committed 33 turnovers as Barton came up with 21 steals. The Lady Bulldogs posted a 32-13 advantage in points off the bench and a 36-15 margin in points off turnovers.
NGU got 12 points from freshman point guard Tyler Powers and 10 points from junior center Rashmi Vanhook.
"For our first outing, I thought we played well," veteran Barton head coach Wendee Saintsing said. "Several players had some outstanding games. Nyeshea just did what she does. She had an excellent game. We had to switch her off to the point some, so she had a few more turnovers than normal. I also thought Briana Terry and Brianna Thomas played well… and Shante Neal had a solid game."
Barton grabbed the early lead in the first half, but the Crusaders battled back to an 18-17 lead midway through the half. From that point forward, Barton's defense triggered numerous fast breaks and Willie swished a pair of three pointers as the Lady Bulldogs went on a 24-3 run for a comfortable 40-21 halftime cushion. Many of Willie's points came off her seven steals prior to halftime.
Barton shot 15-of-29 (51.7 percent) from the floor in the opening half while nabbing 14 steals off 20 NGU turnovers. The visitors were just 8-of-26 from the floor before intermission.
Thanks to a harassing defense, the Lady Bulldogs gradually built the lead to 30 points in the second half and then coasted to the finish.
Willie was 11-of-16 from the floor, 3-of-5 from 3-point land and 7-of-10 from the foul line. As a team, Barton finished 29-of-62 from the floor for 46.8 percent, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. The Crusaders shot 30.4 percent (17-of-56) from the floor and just 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) from downtown. Barton was 20-of-30 from the line (66.7 percent) and NGU was 15-of-25 (60 percent).
"I thought that we played solid defensively tonight with our press, our traps and our half-court defense," Saintsing said.
As for hitting the road for the rest of the year, Saintsing said it just comes with the territory, noting that her team played most of its early games at home last season.
