Box Score
by John Hackney
WILSON, N.C.-The Barton College women's basketball team used a dominating performance on the backboards Thursday night to spurt past visiting King College 57-43 on City of Wilson and Wilson County Schools Appreciation Night in the Dog House.
The victory vaulted the Lady Bulldogs of veteran head coach Wendee Saintsing to 5-3 overall and 4-0 in Conference Carolinas to begin the 2013 portion of their schedule. Barton visits league foe Limestone College (Gaffney, S.C.), ranked 21st nationally in NCAA DII, on Saturday night at 5:30. Barton has the lone unblemished conference mark since the Saints lost Thursday night at Queens.
The Tornado, which entered on a three-game win streak, slipped to 5-3 overall and 1-3 in the league.
Senior forward Shante Neal powered the Barton attack with season-highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Junior guard Nyeshea Willie had a tough shooting night (3-of-13) but canned 8-of-9 free throws en route to 15 points. Senior guard Elaine Morgan added six points and five assists and sophomore 6-foot post player Brianna Thomas tallied a season-best nine points. Senior 5-10 post Janae Jackson collected eight rebounds as Barton controlled the backboards by a 53-37 margin.
Neither team shot the ball well to start the New Year. The Lady Bulldogs were 17-of-61 for 27.9 percent from the field, but swished 21-of-25 foul shots for 84 percent. King connected on 16-of-57 attempts for 28.1 percent, including just 2-of-14 (14 percent) from 3-point land.
The Tornado never led in the game, but did pull even at 10-10 with 9:41 left in the opening half. Barton, which played stifling defense all night in holding a foe to a season low in points, rattled off seven straight points and was never threatened again. Neal contributed two foul shots and a layup in the key run and Thomas drained 3-pointer.
A 3-pointer by Willie late in the half helped the Lady Bulldogs a 31-18 halftime cushion. The margin might have been more, but King, which leads the league in blocked shots, had six swats in the first half (finished with eight). Barton dominated the boards 29-12 in the opening stanza.
The Tornado got within eight points twice in the second half, but each time, the Lady Bulldogs had an answer to extend their lead. No King player reached double figures scoring, but Bonnie Durrett, Kelly Jackson and Sara Mitchell totaled eight points apiece. Durrett also had seven rebounds and four blocks.
