Box Score by Benny Benton
CHARLOTTE – Barton College rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit to take a one-point lead with less than 30 seconds to play on a basket by Alexis Johnson, but Catawba College junior Zhaquondalee Greer scored on a layup in the final seconds to give the Indians a 58-57 victory in the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge Saturday at Queens University.
After her go-ahead basket, Johnson came up with a steal and was fouled with 11 seconds to go, but the freshman missed two free throws, and Catawba's Terri Rogers came up with the rebound to give the Indians possession for Greer's game-winning shot.
The Lady Bulldogs went 1-1 in the two-day challenge, while Catawba left with a pair of wins to open the season.
Johnson recorded a team-high 12 points for the Lady Bulldogs and also contributed eight rebounds. Senior Kaila Lea collected 11 points, and sophomore Caila Carter chipped in eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds. All but five of those points for the Barton trio were scored in the second half.
Catawba dominated the first half, scoring the game's first seven points and pulling away to a 31-16 advantage with 3:28 left in the first half as Barton shot just 24 percent from the field in the period.
Barton finished the period on a 7-2 run to trim the halftime deficit to 10 at 33-23, then started the second half on a 6-2 spurt to climb back within four at 35-31 at the 15:50 mark. However, with the margin still at four, 37-33, Catawba went on an 8-0 run to reclaim a 12-point advantage with 11:15 left.
Half of those eight points were scored by Greer, a transfer from NCAA Division I program Charleston Southern who finished the game with a double-double of 12 points and 11 boards. Rogers, a redshirt freshman, also produced a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds, and senior Chloe Bully chipped in 11 points and seven boards.
Trailing by nine with just under nine minutes to play, Barton slowly climbed back toward the lead with four free throws, then received consecutive layups from Johnson to pull within a single point at 51-50 with 5:44 left.
The Indians, which had allowed the Lady Bulldogs to rally by missing six straight shots from the field and two from the line, finally put a halt to the 8-0 run with a basket by Greer that started a 5-1 spurt. Trailing 56-52 with just over three minutes to go, Carter sank a free throw with 1:54 left and Tiffany Webster scored on a jumper with 1:19 to play to pull the Lady Bulldogs back within one again at 56-55.
After Bully missed a 3-point attempt with 48 seconds left, Barton called timeout and then worked the ball to Johnson, who drove for a layup to give Barton its only lead of the game, 57-56, with 28 seconds remaining.
Johnson came up with a steal from Catawba's Bri Johnson with 11 seconds left and was immediately fouled by Serena Brown, but could not convert the free throw attempts, and the Indians had 10 seconds to set up Greer for the winning shot with two seconds remaining.
The Lady Bulldogs struggled as a team from the charity stripe for the second straight game, making just 11 of 21 attempts (52 percent). After a poor shooting effort from the field as well in the first half, Barton approached 40 percent in the second period (12 of 31), but still finished the contest at 31 percent (21 of 68).
Catawba made the same number of field goals, 21, and was only slightly more accurate (32 percent), but shot 68 percent from the line and made two more attempts.
For the second straight game, Barton's defense forced 28 turnovers, but as a result of the poor shooting in the first half, managed just three points out of those miscues in the period and 14 for the game. Webster collected five of the Lady Bulldogs' 14 steals.
Catawba enjoyed a 57-50 advantage on the boards, leading to an 18-13 edge in second-chance points.
Barton will get an unusually early start to league play this year, opening Conference Carolinas competition on Wednesday at Belmont Abbey College.
