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March
11, 2005
Wingate Withstands
Columbus
State
Rally, Bulldogs Advance to Semifinals
RALEIGH, NC – Wingate University surrendered a
double-digit lead in the first part of the second half, but
gained it all back in the final 10 minutes as the Bulldogs
defeated Columbus State University, 82-71, during the
quarterfinals of the 2005 NCAA Division II Women’s
Basketball South Atlantic Regional Championship inside C.C.
Spaulding Gymnasium on the campus of Shaw University in
Raleigh, NC.
Wingate (21-10) held a 44-33 halftime lead and extended the
margin to 47-33 on an old-fashioned three-point play by
Veronica Taylor just 18 seconds into the second stanza.
That’s when Columbus State
(20-11) started to chip away at the deficit, using a 21-6
run over the next eight minutes to take a 54-53 lead on a
put-back by Tashea Ledbetter at 11:05.
The Bulldogs responded by
scoring the next seven points, followed moments later by a
10-1 run to push the advantage back to 13 points (70-57 at
5:13). The Lady Cougars never recovered.
“It was hard to put them
away,” said Wingate head coach Johnny Jacumin. “At
halftime we had them by 11 points, but after that we let
them come back on us. They have a good ball club … they
shoot the ‘three’ real well. I thought in the first half
they penetrated on us a lot better. I don’t know whether
we defended the penetration better in the second half, or
whether they didn’t penetrate quite as hard, but I thought
that was the difference in the two halves of the
ballgame.”
Wingate had four players with
double-figures in the scoring column, including two with 20
or more. Lakin Byer posted 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead
the Bulldogs, while Veronica Taylor scored 20 points and
Tanetra Barrett added 14 points.
Columbus
State
was paced by Lucia Heston with a team-best 14 points and
Cherwonna Walker with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Wingate advances to play
Shaw
University
in the regional semifinals Saturday at
8 p.m.
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