Box Score
by John Hackney
WILSON, N.C.-The guard combination of Nyeshea Willie and Elaine Morgan got the Lady Bulldogs out on the fast break early and often Tuesday night as host Barton College rolled over Coker College 78-51 in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
Coker, which entered the contest with a half-game lead atop the conference standings, departed at 9-4 overall and 5-2 in the league. Barton, 3-0 in the Dog House this season, claimed a share of first place in the league at 5-1 and sports a 6-4 overall record. The Lady Bulldogs visit North Greenville University (Tigerville, S.C.) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday night.
Willie, the league's leading scorer (20 ppg), cashed in a game-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point land. Morgan, a senior who began her collegiate career at East Carolina University, had one of the best games of her career with eight points and career-highs of nine steals and 13 assists. Senior forward Shante Neal finished with 14 points.
The Cobras took an early 6-2 lead on a jumper by senior guard Amber Lau and held their last lead at 9-8 on a free throw by Lau with 15:21 left in the first half. That's when Willie, who is one of the nation's leading scorers, and Morgan took charge in a game-changing 21-2 run. Willie, who had 12 of Barton's initial 21 points, was a scoring machine with 16 first-half points while Morgan was the playmaker on both ends; notching six steals and eight assists before intermission. The Barton lead grew to 21 points several times before it went to the locker room with a 41-24 cushion.
The fast pace suited the Lady Bulldogs, who had a 23-6 advantage in points off turnovers, a 14-0 margin in fast break points and an 11-0 shutout in points from bench players. Barton canned 50 percent of its shots (17-of-34) before the break while limiting Coker to 9-of-24 (37.5 percent).
The Cobras made a run to start the second half, closing within 44-34. Willie opened the half with a trey before Coker countered with a 10-0 run. Priscilla Fenty started the comeback with a layup, Amber Lau swished a 3-pointer and a layup and her sister, Autumn, netted another trey.
Following a timeout from veteran head coach Wendee Saintsing, Barton hiked up its defensive pressure and got back on the break in a 16-2 run to take command at 60-36 with 9:56 to play. Senior forward Jolanda Mitchell triggered the Barton attack with the first five points while Willie, junior guard Ashley Thornton and Neal made scoring contributions.
Coker never got any closer than 20 points the rest of the way. Barton's largest cushion was 29 points at 78-49 with 1:16 left.
Barton finished the game with a 22-2 advantage in fast break points and a 36-11 margin in points off turnovers. The Lady Bulldogs were 31-of-62 from the floor for 50 percent, including 4-of-10 from downtown, while Coker exited at 20-for-54 (37 percent). The Cobras, one of the nation's top 3-point shooting teams, managed to hit just 3-of-15 for 20 percent against a stingy Barton defense that made 18 steals.
The Lau sisters paved the way for Coker. Autumn tallied team-bests of 19 points and nine boards and Amber Lau scored 15. Barton won the rebounding battle by a slim 34-32 margin.
"This was a great win for us," Saintsing said. "We held their shooters to low percentages and I thought Jolanda and Morgan did a really good job defensively. I thought our half-court defense was very good tonight. We took some things away from them and made them uncomfortable."
Saintsing praised her squad's balanced scoring attack and an extraordinary effort from Morgan.
"She played the best game I have seen her play," Saintsing said. "She took care of the ball, moved the ball around and didn't force anything. She did a really good job on defense as well."
