Box Score
by John Hackney
WILSON, N.C.-Winless Erskine College gave league-leading Barton College a run for its money until the final three minutes Saturday night before the Lady Bulldogs pulled away to a 62-53 Conference Carolinas women's basketball victory.
The host Lady Bulldogs extended their season-best win streak to seven games and now stand 12-4 overall and 11-1 (tied for first) in the league. BC is 6-0 in the Dog House. Erskine, which shot a torrid 51.3 percent (20-of-39) from the floor, exited at 0-17 and 0-12, respectively. The visitors were victimized by 30 turnovers as Barton recorded 19 steals.
Barton visits archrival Mount Olive for a 5:30 p.m. tilt on Thursday night to begin a three-game road swing.
Senior point guard Elaine Morgan continued her stellar play, besting her career-high for the second straight game with a team-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-6 from downtown. Senior 5-foot-10 forward Shante Neal scored 14 points and snared seven rebounds and 5-10 senior Janae Jackson added 13 points and eight steals. Junior guard Nyeshea Willie – one of the nation's top scorers (21.6 ppg) – managed but six points on 1-of-8 shooting.
While Erskine was sizzling the nets, Barton struggled to 33.3 percent accuracy (21-of-63) and hit just 2-of-11 from beyond the arc. The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Flying Fleet 30-12 in points off turnovers, 12-2 in second-chance points and 12-2 in points off the break. Barton also posted a slight 35-33 advantage in rebounding.
Barton held a small lead early in the game, but feisty Erskine rallied to a 16-13 advantage with 11:45 left in the half on a 3-pointer by 5-6 sophomore guard Haleigh Spaulding. The Lady Bulldogs, who got an early spark from 5-4 junior guard Ashley Thornton's two 3-pointers, responded with an 11-2 run. Neal hit three jumpers in the spree while Morgan and Willie each sank a layup to make it 24-16 at the seven-minute mark.
Another Morgan layup made it 32-24 with 37 seconds left, but 5-10 sophomore Adrienne Bannerman helped Erskine cut it to 32-27 with a 3-pointer 11 ticks before halftime. The Fleet swished 10-of-19 shots in the half but had 18 turnovers. Barton was 13-of-36 before the break.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the second half with a 15-5 run for a 47-32 lead. Jackson had two conventional three-point plays and Morgan had one as Barton appeared to take control. However, the visitors had other plans, bouncing back with a 20-9 run. Spaulding, 5-11 junior Lindsey Weidener and Bannerman each hit a couple of big shots in the comeback that trimmed the Barton led to 54-42 with 3:19 to play.
Barton controlled the tempo down the stretch with the final 8-1 run while Erskine committed two offensive fouls and two turnovers. Morgan made a layup, Jackson hit a pull-up jumper off a nifty Morgan pass and Morgan and Willie canned two foul shots each to put the game away.
Bannerman (17 points, 10 rebounds) and 6-2 sophomore Tara Potter (13 points, 11 rebounds) tallied double-doubles for the Fleet. Spaulding added 11 points.
