Box Score SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Barton women's basketball team (24-6) suffered a heartbreaking, 67-65 loss to Limestone (23-8) Sunday afternoon in the finals of the 2020 Conference Carolinas Championship at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on the campus of Wofford College.
The Saints, the fourth seed in the tournament, earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. The second-seeded Bulldogs saw their 11-game winning streak come to an end and will look to see if they can earn an at-large bid to the playoffs.
Limestone was led by Quin Byrd (Fountain Inn, S.C.) with 21 points while Schekinah Bimpa (Loganville, Ga.) added 16 points including the game-winning field goal as the Saints saw a 13-point lead – 57-44 with 30 seconds left in the third period – disappear but was able to pull it out in the end. The Saints won their first conference tournament title since 2016 and their fourth in the last seven years.
Barton junior center Shanika Peterkin (Virginia Beach, Va.) tallied her 24th double-double on the season – 23 points and 16 rebounds – and crossed the 1,000-point mark for her career but it wasn't enough. Sophomore guard Akira Wiggins (Knightdale, N.C.) added 16 points as the Bulldogs fought their way back to take a 65-64 lead with under a minute left but couldn't convert on several opportunities down the stretch.
The Bulldogs hit just four-of-23 (17 percent) from behind the three-point line as the Saints was able to avenge a pair of regular season losses to Barton.
2020 Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball
Championship All-Tournament Team
Keyanna Spivey, Belmont Abbey
Breanna Locke, Emmanuel
Quin Byrd, Limestone
Shanika Peterkin, Barton
Reagan McCray, Limestone
Jami Tham-Morrobel, Barton
MVP: Schekinah Bimpa, Limestone
