Box Score
by Benny Benton
AIKEN, S.C.-The Barton College women's basketball team tenaciously fought back from a 15-point first-half deficit to within a single point in its NCAA Division II Southeast Regional appearance on Friday, but the Lady Bulldogs could not complete the comeback in falling to Wingate University, 64-59, at the USC Aiken Convocation Center in Aiken, S.C.
Barton's lone senior, Jannetta Robinson, completed her Barton career with a team-high 19 points, adding five rebounds and four steals. Sophomore Nyeshea Willie added a double-double, collecting 16 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three steals.
Nikki Burton led all scorers with 20 for Wingate, also nicknamed the Lady Bulldogs. Simone Rutledge added 10 points and eight boards for the South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament champions.
With the win, Wingate improved to 23-7 on the season and advanced to the tournament semifinals against either No. 2 seed Clayton State University or No. 7 seed Tusculum College. Barton, making its second straight NCAA tournament appearance, finished its season with a 21-9 mark.
"I'm very pleased with this group," coach Wendee Saintsing said. "We had our ups and downs this year, but we've beaten some very good teams. Toward the end of the year, we really got it focused and beat some of the top teams in our league. All in all, we had a successful year."
Trailing by double-digits at 39-28 with 14:39 to go in the game, Barton used consecutive 3-pointers by Robinson and a greater defensive intensity to fuel its comeback. Wingate turned the ball over on its next seven possessions, and when Elaine Morgan made a layup with 10:39 to play, Barton was as close as it had been since the opening tip, 39-38.
However, Burton scored the game's next four points, and Wingate maintained a lead between three and eight points until Janae Jackson's layup with 1:45 to go pulled Barton back within one again at 56-55.
Burton quickly gave Wingate another three-point cushion with a layup, and Faith Hunter missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer for Barton with 1:22 to go. Morgan grabbed the offensive rebound and passed the ball to Willie, who was fouled with 1:14 to play. Willie made one of her two free throws, cutting the Barton deficit to 58-56.
Wingate's Chantal Dunbar, who came off the bench to score 10 points in 17 minutes of action, missed a layup with 48 seconds to play, giving Barton another chance to tie or take its first lead of the contest. However, Willie was called for a double-dribble, and a Rutledge layup with 25 seconds to go effectively sealed the win for Wingate.
"We didn't have anyone step up to the ball to try and finish, but that's the pressure of the game," Saintsing said.
Wingate was 4-of-4 from the line in the last 11 seconds, including a pair by Sarah Wollett, who came off the bench to contribute nine points, seven rebounds and six assists in just 22 minutes of action.
For the game, Wingate was 16 of 18 (89 percent) from the line and 23 of 49 (47 percent) from the field.
Barton, meanwhile, struggled mightily with its shooting, making just 19 of 62 shots (31 percent). It missed its first 10 3-pointers of the game before the pair by Robinson midway through the second period started the rally.
Barton made up for its shooting with solid defense, forcing Wingate into 19 second-half turnovers and 30 for the game, which matched Wingate's season high.
"I was very proud of our kids for the way that we worked hard in the second half," Saintsing said. "I thought that we gave it a very good effort. We caused 30 turnovers for the game, including three in a row (down the stretch), but we were not able to capitalize on any of them and that hurt us. I give Wingate credit. They were able to score and execute and we weren't able to do that."
