Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
MORROW, Ga.-Senior forward Shante Neal produced 13 points and six rebounds from a reserve role in leading the Barton College women's basketball team to an impressive 55-51 comeback victory over Lander University on Saturday afternoon in the opening game of the 12th annual Heritage Bank Holiday Classic hosted by Clayton State University.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed by eight points at halftime in the team's first game in four weeks before stepping up on defense in the second half to rally for the win against a Bearcats squad that went to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight last season. Barton (4-2 overall) has now defeated Lander (3-5) in two consecutive seasons after knocking off then No. 10 ranked Lander 74-72 in in Lady Bearcats Tipoff Classic in November of 2011.
Barton was sloppy with the ball in the first half committing 12 turnovers in the opening frame. The Lady Bulldogs changed the tempo of the game by only registered four more turnovers over the final 20 minutes while making eight steals on 12 second-half miscues by the Bearcats. BC finished with a 28-7 gain on points off turnovers.
Senior guard Nyeshea Willie led all Barton scorers with 14 points. Willie also came up with a game-high five thefts. Neal netted her 13 points on 6-13 shooting. Senior center Janae Jackson added eight points; senior point guard Elaine Morgan swished seven; and senior forward Jolanda Mitchell chipped in six.
A Willie steal and layup in the opening minute provided Barton with its only lead of the first period at 2-0. Lander rattled off the next seven points to take a lead it would maintain for the rest of the stanza. The Bearcats doubled up the Lady Bulldogs, 20-10, at the 8:06 mark on a layup by senior Precious Elkins. Barton answered with the next eight points including consecutive layups by senior Elaine Morgan and a lay-in by Willie that closed the gap to a pair at 20-18.
The two teams traded a pair of three pointers before junior Lea Saunders nailed the Bearcats fifth trifecta of the period to increase Lander's advantage to 26-21. Elkins scored a minute later for the last basket of the period as both squads were held scoreless for the final two minutes. The Lady Bearcats held a seven-point edge at halftime.
Saunders, who ranks 29th nationally with 2.8 three-pointers made per game, was 4-of-6 from behind the arc in the first half and led all players with 14 of her game-high points at the intermission. Barton stepped up its perimeter defense on Saunders in the second half holding her to just three more points on one of five tries from long range.
Willie, Morgan and Neal all had four points for the Lady Bulldogs at the midway point. Jackson pulled down five of her team-high seven boards in the first half as Barton maintained a slim 23-21 rebounding edge.
The Royal Blue and White started the second half with an 11-0 run to take control. Willie started the game-changing rally with a 3-pointer before consecutive layups by Morgan and Mitchell knotted the score for the second and final time at 28-28. Two more lay-ins by Neal and Jackson put Barton ahead for good at 32-28 as the clock ticked inside 16 minutes.
Lander scored its first points of the second half at the 15:31 mark to only trail by two, 32-30, but the Lady Bulldogs kept racing past the Bearcats by scoring 15 of the next 19 points to build BC's lead to double figures at 47-34. Barton continued to lead by a dozen, 50-38, before Lander attempted a late comeback. Saunder's fifth made 3-pointer with 88 seconds to go capped an 11-2 rally that pulled the Bearcats to within one possession at 52-49. Jackson put a dagger in the retaliation by converting on a pair of free throws while Lander missed three of its final four shots and Willie made 1-of-2 free throws to compete the four-point win.
Barton was held to 30-percent shooting in the first half but heated up to nearly 40% in the second half to finish the game at 34.9% (22-63) accuracy. Lander matched the Bulldogs going 35.6% (21-59) from the floor but cooled off from 5-of-13 (38.5%) precision from three-point distance to just 1-of-13 (7.7%) in the final frame.
Elkins flirted with a double-double scoring 12 points and corralling nine rebounds. Lander junior leading scorer Aarika Judge was held to just nine points but she did crash the glass for a game-high 10 boards as the Bearcats finished with a 43-40 rebounding edge.
Barton will be going for a fourth consecutive win to cap a six-game road swing in the Heritage Bank Holiday Classic finale against host and No. 4 nationally ranked Clayton State on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
