Women’s Basketball’s season closes in SAC Quarterfinals

Rock Hill, S.C. —- The fifth-seeded Catawba College women's basketball team battled back from a 13-point first-half deficit to take a second-half lead against fourth-seeded Wingate in the South Atlantic Conference quarterfinal at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center on Wednesday evening, but ultimately fell, 61-56.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba was 21-for-58 (36 percent) from the field, holding Wingate to 16-of-47 (34 percent) shooting from the floor

- The Bulldogs went 6-for-20 (30 percent) from three-point range; Catawba shot 6-for-32 (19 percent) from deep

- WU was 23-for-28 (82 percent) from the free throw line, while the Catawba Indians were 8-for-10 (80 percent) from the charity stripe

- Wingate out-rebounded Catawba 38-33, but the Catawba Indians held an 8-2 edge in second-chance points

- The Catawba Indians recorded 16 assists to 13 turnovers, while the Bulldogs had 10 assists to 17 turnovers; WU led 18-17 in points off turnovers

- Catawba held advantages in points in the paint (24-16) and bench points (16-8)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Janiya Foskey recorded a team-high 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting with nine rebounds

- Nala Baker added 13 points and eight assists

- Natalie Fuertes Lara chipped in five points with a game-high four steals

- Bailee Goodlett and Jada Porter also scored five points

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER

- Wingate jumped out to an 8-0 lead after Lany Beale's three-pointer at the 6:41 mark

- Catawba recorded its first points on Porter's layup with less than five minutes left in the opening period

- The Bulldogs led by double digits near the four-minute mark

- Porter and Baker triples cut the deficit to four at the 2:16 mark

- Sydney Gueterman hit a triple near the end of the opening 10 minutes; Wingate led 15-14 after one quarter

SECOND QUARTER

- A Wingate three-pointer early in the second brought their lead to eight

- The Bulldog lead grew to 13 at the 1:27 mark

- A basket and a pair of free throws cut Catawba's halftime deficit to 30-21 

THIRD QUARTER

- Catawba's 6-0 run early in the third brought the margin all the way down to three points

- Goodlett's three-pointer and a Foskey tip-in after a missed free throw gave Catawba its first lead at 35-34

- The Catawba lead was as much as three after Baker canned a triple, but Wingate ended the quarter on a 5-0 run to lead 45-43 heading into the final 10 minutes

FOURTH QUARTER

- The Bulldogs scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, extending their run to 12-0 since the end of the third quarter, turning a deficit into a nine-point lead

- Catawba broke a nearly eight-minute scoreless drought on Spry's basket at the midway point of the fourth

- Two baskets from Spry propelled an 8-1 run that helped trim the Wingate lead to 53-51 with 2:56 to go

- The lead remained at two when Beale drove and scored for the Bulldogs to lead by four with 33 seconds remaining

- Foskey answered with a fadeaway jumper with 11 seconds left, trailing 58-56

- Wingate knocked down three free throws with less than nine seconds to go to advance

GAME NOTES

- Catawba's first loss in the SAC quarterfinal round since 2019; Catawba's last SAC Tournament title came in 2004

- Foskey ends the season with a team-high 418 points

- Porter's 109 career three-pointers made ranks 11th in program history

- Foskey, Porter and Svenson played on the 2022-23 Southeast Regional title teamt