by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College women's basketball team hopes to get above .500 in Conference Carolinas play Saturday when the Lady Bulldogs travel to Due West, S.C., to face Erskine College in a 2 p.m. contest.
Erskine sports information will provide live stats and video for Saturday's game.
Barton women's basketball fans can follow the Lady Bulldogs all season on www.BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Barton College Women's Basketball
The Lady Bulldogs (2-4, 1-1) evened their conference record last week with an 85-76 overtime win over previously unbeaten Emmanuel College.
Senior Kaila Lea and freshman Tatyana Jackson combined to score 10 of the team's last 12 points in regulation and 15 of BC's 18 points in overtime to help secure the win. Senior Brianna Thomas added 16 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore Tiffany Webster chipped in 15 points and four assists.
Lea is averaging a team-high 12 points per game for the season, followed by Webster at 10.2. Freshman Alexis Johnson paces the squad in rebounds with 6.2 per contest, with sophomore Caila Carter grabbing 5.7 boards per game and Shatisha Dukes claiming 5.3 per game.
The Lady Bulldogs shot a season-high 43 percent in the win over the Lions, and are 2-0 this year when making better than 40 percent from the floor. However, Barton will be challenged Saturday by an Erskine defense that leads the conference and ranks 33rd nationally in field goal percentage defense at 33.7 percent.
Barton might be able to use its defense to create easier chances. The Lady Bulldogs lead the league and rank 15th nationally with a plus-7.67 turnover margin, while the Fleet ranks next-to-last among 287 NCAA Division II programs in turnovers at 23.4 per contest.
The two sides have one common opponent this year. Both teams lost to USC Aiken, Erskine by a score of 72-54 and Barton by a score of 62-51.
The Lady Bulldogs dropped two close meetings with the Fleet last year, falling 92-88 in Wilson and 63-61 on a last-second layup in Due West. Thomas had a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds in the first meeting, and Webster tossed in 12 points in the second showdown.
Barton last won in Belk Arena two years ago, routing Erskine 73-44.
Erskine College Women's Basketball
The Flying Fleet (4-4, 2-1) has won its last two league games since a heartbreaking 64-63 loss to nationally-ranked Limestone on Nov. 19. In its last outing, Erskine downed University of Mount Olive, 92-87.
Erskine leads Conference Carolinas in scoring offense at better than 75 points per game, and those points are scattered throughout a lineup that returns all five starters from a year ago.
Raygon Hendrix, last year's Freshman of the Year in the conference, leads the team at 16 points per game and is also contributing five assists. However, three other players – sophomores Ashley Espinosa and Kristin Giles and senior Andrienne Bannerman – are all averaging 14 points per contest. Bannerman is also averaging 9.4 rebounds per game, which is second in the conference.
As a team, the Fleet is dominating the glass, ranking fifth in the country in defensive rebounds per game with 35. It will match up with a Barton squad which ranks 42nd nationally in offensive boards at 16 per contest.
Fouls have been an issue for Erskine, as the Fleet are committing 21.7 per game, which ranks it among the bottom 25 teams in the country in the category.
Giles led Erskine in scoring in both of its wins over Barton last season, scoring 17 in the win in Wilson and 18 in the victory in Due West. Tara Potter, the reigning Conference Carolinas Player of the Week, added a double-double of 14 points and 11 boards in the first meeting, and Hendrix contributed 16 points and five assists in the second meeting.
