Box Score
by John Hackney
WILSON, N.C.-Junior point guard Nyeshea Willie scored 16 of her game-high 22 points in the second half Monday night as Barton College seized a key Conference Carolinas women's basketball victory, 58-55, over visiting Pfeiffer University.
Their fifth straight victory vaulted the Lady Bulldogs to 10-4 overall, 9-1 in the league (tied for first) and 5-0 in the Dog House. The Falcons, who led for more than 15 minutes of the second half, departed at 11-3 overall and 6-3 in the conference. Pfeiffer, who are receiving two votes in the current USA TODAY Sports Division II Top 25 Poll, had won seven of its last eight games prior to Monday night's loss.
Willie – the league's leading scorer ranking sixth nationally – finished 9-of-16 from the floor, snared seven rebounds, had four assists and made two steals. Pfeiffer was trailing 58-55 with 14 seconds left, but never got off a last shot as senior guard Elaine Morgan batted the ball away and Willie scooped it up before it went out of bounds.
"That was a really good game," veteran Barton head coach Wendee Saintsing said. "I thought we were pretty impressive in the second half. We were able to hit some shots and several kids played really well."
Senior forward Shante Neal notched 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds and senior center Janae Jackson added 10 points and seven boards to lead the victors. Morgan had three thefts to keep up her league-leading steals total.
Barton, which trailed 32-29 at halftime, seized its first lead (52-50) in more than 20 minutes with 4:44 left on a pull-up jumper by Willie. Barton had fallen behind 44-36, but that's when Willie took over. She canned a 3-pointer, made a nifty assist to Neal, swished a jumper, canned a foul shot, converted a spinning jumper in the paint and hit the pull-up jumper in accounting for 10 points in a crucial 16-6 run.
"Nyeshea did a really good job," Saintsing said. "She hit the shots when we needed them and was able to drive to the basket or take advantage of what she saw."
Sophomore Pfeiffer guard Jodie Lemons nailed a pair of free throws to make it 52-52 with 4:22 showing. Jackson stole the ball and fed it to Willie for a 54-52 lead then Morgan swiped the ball and went coast-to-coast for a 56-52 edge with 3:04 remaining.
Senior 5-9 guard Brittany Cox, who was held in check by Barton's man-to-man defense for much of the second half, came up with a clutch 3-pointer at 57 seconds, making it 56-55. Barton ran down the clock on its next possession and Willie fed the ball inside to Jackson, who banked in a spinning jumper to account for the final margin.
Pfeiffer then misfired on the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw situation, but got the ball back on a steal by senior Christina Harvey. However, the Falcons were not able to get off a final shot.
Pfeiffer was led by Harvey with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Lemons had 15 points and 10 boards while Cox finished with 14 points. Pfeiffer dominated the backboards by a 42-31 margin but committed 15 turnovers, compared to eight for the Lady Bulldogs.
Barton netted 24-of-56 shots for 42.9 percent while the Falcons were 21-of-56 for 37.5 percent. Both teams sank 8-of-13 foul shots.
"We're just glad to get a win tonight at home against a very good team," Saintsing said.
Barton next travels to Queens University of Charlotte on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
