WILSON, N.C. – After wrapping up the regular season with a convincing 70-56 victory over rival University of Mount Olive, the Barton College women's basketball team secured a spot in the Conference Carolinas Tournament. The No. 5 seed Lady Bulldogs will travel to Due West, S.C. for a matchup with No. 4 seed Erskine College on Saturday February 28 for a contest scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Belk Arena.
Erskine sports information will provide live stats and video for Saturday's contest.
Barton basketball fans can follow the Bulldogs all season on www.BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The Regular Season Series
Barton and Erskine have met twice during the regular season with the Fleet earning a season sweep of Lady Bulldogs with a 78-66 victory on December 6, 2014 in Due West and a 73-69 win in Wilson on Feb. 18.
In the first matchup of the season, the Erskine College women's basketball team held Barton to just 19 first-half points and took advantage of numerous chances at the free throw line in claiming a 78-66 win over the Lady Bulldogs Belk Arena.
Freshman Alexis Johnson led Barton with 14 points and also chipped in five rebounds and five steals. Sophomores Caila Carter and Shatisha Dukes each added 11 points, and senior Brianna Thomas pulled in a game-high nine rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs in the loss.
The Flying Fleet was paced by 20 points from sophomore Ashley Espinosa. Naomi Stuger and Marnasha Eugene came off the bench to add 12 and 10 points, respectively, and Andrienne Bannerman contributed eight rebounds and four blocks.
On. Feb. 18, the Barton College women's basketball team committed 20 turnovers as Erskine turned those miscues into 30 points off of turnovers in a 73-69 victory over the Lady Bulldogs in Wilson Gymnasium.
Espinosa led the Fleet with a game-high 26 points and six rebounds, while forward Tara Potter scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half to go along with seven rebounds in 32 minutes.
Dukes recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the floor and a game-high 13 rebounds. Senior Kaila Lea totaled 20 points of her own in 34 minutes, while Tiffany Webster scored 12 points in the game.
Erskine College Flying Fleet
The Fleet boast a regular season of 17-11 overall and 15-7 in conference play, having won their last four contests including a 58-54 victory over Emmanuel College on Feb. 24 in the season finale.
As a team, the Flying Fleet rank near the top of the conference in nearly every offensive category, claiming a spot as the league's second-highest scoring team at 71.9 points per game, while shooting 40.7 percent from the floor and pulling down 44.2 rebounds per game.
On the defensive side of the ball, Erskine allows 70.5 points per game, ninth overall in the league, holding opponents to just 35.5 percent shooting and allowing the opposition to corral 45.7 rebounds while forcing 19.3 turnovers.
Espinosa leads Erskine as the seventh-leading scorer in the league with 14.3 point per game as Potter ranks second on the team with 11.1 points on 56.7 percent shooting and 6.8 rebounds per game.
Kristin Giles adds 10.3 points of her own, while Bannerman rounds out the double-digit scorers for Erskine with 10 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds of her own.
Barton College Lady Bulldogs
The Lady Bulldogs have risen their record to 14-15 overall and 13-9 in conference play after going 6-4 in four over their last 10 games, including the 14-point victory over Mount Olive on Tuesday.
Barton's offense ranks fifth in the conference in scoring at a 65.7 clip while pulling down 39.5 rebounds and handing out 11.7 assist per game. On defense the Lady Bulldogs allow 64.4 points per game and force 20.4 turnovers, ranking second in the league with 9.7 steals per contest.
Lea continues to pace Barton with 13.5 points per game, averaging 20.8 points over the last four games, and Thomas averages 10.1 points per game while leading the team with 7.4 rebounds on the court and leading the team with seven double-doubles.
Webster is the team's second-leading scorer with 11 points and a team-high 2.7 assists per game, while fellow Dukes has posted four double-doubles her of own, averaging to 9.6 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor and 6.1 rebounds per game.
