Box Score by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C.–Barton College sank 14 of its first 20 shots (70 percent) in posting a 14-point first-half advantage, but made just 12 of 41 (29 percent) the rest of the game in falling to Erskine College, 92-88, in a Conference Carolinas matchup Saturday in Wilson Gym.
The decision evened both teams' league records at 1-1. Barton moved to 4-5 overall with the loss, while Erskine improved to 3-5 overall with the win.
Junior forward Brianna Thomas contributed her third double-double of the year for the Lady Bulldogs with 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, while senior forward Cassandra Brown added her first double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, both career highs. Senior guard Nyeshea Willie, the league's leading scorer, paced Barton with 26 points, and senior guard Ashley Thornton chipped in 12.
Erskine had six players reach double-figures, led by a pair of freshmen, Kristin Giles with 17 and Marnasha Eugene with 16. Junior forward Tara Potter posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Flying Fleet also received a strong all-around game – seven points, six assists and five steals – from freshman guard Raygon Hendrix.
Leading by one point at 12-11 just over four minutes into play, the Lady Bulldogs used two layups by Thomas, a pair of free throws by Brown and a jumper by Shadawn Clanton to make up an 8-0 run that put Barton up by nine, 20-11, with 13:55 left in the first half.
Erskine scored the next five points to pull within four, but Barton used a pair of three-point plays, the first by Brown and the second by Caila Carter, to reach a double-digit lead for the first time in the game, 26-16, at the 10:36 mark. Two more jumpers, one by Willie and the other by Kaila Lea, extended the Lady Bulldogs' lead to 14, 32-18, with 8:35 left in the half.
Barton still held that margin after a 3-pointer by Thomas with 6:32 remaining before intermission, but Erskine's Andrienne Bannerman matched Thomas with a 3-pointer on the other end, starting a 7-0 run for the Flying Fleet. Erskine closed the gap within six at 46-40 on a 3-pointer by Giles with 3:14 left, and Barton took an eight-point advantage into halftime, 50-42.
The Flying Fleet quickly erased most of Barton's remaining lead to start the second half. A three-point play by Eugene, followed by layups from Potter and Giles, comprised a 7-0 run to begin the period, cutting the deficit to a single point, 50-49, less than two minutes into the half.
Five times Erskine would get within a point, and each time the Lady Bulldogs pulled away again. The Fleet pulled within one a sixth time at 65-64 on a layup by Potter with 11:36 to go, and this time Barton failed to score on its next three possessions. Erskine finally grabbed the lead at 67-65 on a three-point play by Giles with 10:24 remaining.
Barton briefly regained the lead on a 3-pointer by Thornton, but Erskine broke a 69-all tie with a layup by Jana Dixon, and Bannerman added a 3-pointer to give the Fleet a five-point cushion for the first time with 8:39 left.
The Lady Bulldogs used strong free throw shooting (28 of 34 in the game) to pull back into a tie with just under six minutes to play. Barton would tie the Fleet on two more occasions, the last time at 84-all on a jumper by Willie with 3:28 remaining.
However, Hendrix recorded consecutive steals, the first leading to her own layup and the second resulting in two free throws for Naomi Stuger. Barton then missed a shot on its next possession, and Rosa Powell made a layup on the other end to give Erskine its biggest lead of the game, 90-84 with 1:57 to play.
A jumper by Willie and two free throws by Webster pulled Barton within two with 30 seconds left, but the Lady Bulldogs could not force a turnover and was forced to foul Giles, who made both free throws with 14 seconds remaining to seal the win for Erskine, its first in the last six meetings with Barton.
While the Lady Bulldogs shot just 31 percent in the second period (10 of 32), Erskine made 20 of 34 from the field (58 percent) in the half, and finished the game over 50 percent from the field (37 of 70, 53 percent).
The Flying Fleet, the league's leader in steals, matched its average with 13 steals against Barton. The thefts were part of 20 turnovers forced against Barton, which came into the contest with the lowest turnover average in the conference. As a result, Erskine outscored the Lady Bulldogs 23 to 10 in points off turnovers.
Barton enjoyed a 43 to 32 rebounding edge in the contest, including a 16 to 8 advantage on the offensive glass, but could not convert those chances into points. Despite the scoring and rebounding efforts from Barton's Thomas and Brown, the Fleet enjoyed a whopping 56 to 24 margin on scoring in the paint.
The game was the final home contest of the calendar year for the Lady Bulldogs. Barton will have one more game before New Year's, that contest scheduled for Friday, Dec. 13, at Winston-Salem State University.
