Area sports briefs: Hipps ends college career in MEAC final

From staff reports

South Carolina State's Sophilia Hipps (North Rowan) ended her college basketball career with a loss to Hampton in the MEAC tournament championship game on Saturday at Joel Coliseum. Hipps scored 12 points and had four rebounds for the Bulldogs in a 57-46 setback.

n Rashonda Mayfield (West Rowan) scored 11 points for Voorhees in an 83-72 loss to Morris in the semifinals of the NAIA independents tournament.

Southeast Regional semifinalsNo. 7 seed Tusculum beat Francis Marion 103-96 in a regional semifinal on Saturday in Greenwood, S.C.

Tusculum's odd couple 4-foot-11 Jasmine Gunn and 6-8 Catherine Hintz, did the damage. Gunn scored 45 points, including a record-breaking 23-for-29 effort from the foul line. Hintz added 21 points.

n No. 1 seed Lander crushed No. 5 Carson-Newman 94-67. Nardia Robbins scored 15 for the Bearcats. Shari Buford, Mandy Mendenhall and Ashley Kyle had 13 apiece for the Eagles.

n Men's basketball

Davidson County Community College lost to Roxbury (Mass.) 81-78 in the Elite Eight. Roderick Geter scored 21 points for the Storm,

n DCCC lost in the seventh-place game on Saturday, falling to Herkimer (N.Y.) 91-87 despite Justin Glover's 31 points.

n Pfeiffer's men (18-12) finished the season as the top scoring team in the nation with 103.1 points a game.

Pfeiffer was third in 3-point field goals (10.6 per game) and third in steals (11.2 per game). Pfeiffer's all-region pick Chris Woods ranked 10th in the nation with 22.3 points a game.

n Rio Grande's Doug Campbell (Salisbury) scored 15 points in a 93-77 loss to Campbellsville in the first round of the Mid-South tournament.

n College baseball

Catawba's baseball team lost 21-9 at Wingate on Saturday. Casey Allison had five RBIs for Wingate (11-7, 8-3 SAC).

Garrett Furr had a three-run double for the Indians (18-7, 5-6), and John Neese went 3-for-4. Wade Moore (West Rowan) led off the game with a homer to dead center, while Josh Hohn homered in the fifth.

n Brett Underwood singled home Ryan Bostian (South Rowan) in the 11th inning to give Catawba a 7-6 win in a game suspended on Friday and completed yesterday.

The teams play the final game of the series today at 1 p.m. at Christopher Stadium.

n Liberty's Keegan Linza (North Rowan) pitched well again on Saturday, but he didn't get a decision in the Flames' 14-9 victory against St. John's.

Linza allowed six hits and one earned run in 61/3 innings and struck out six. He left with a nice lead, but the bullpen couldn't hold it.

n Pitt Community College's Trey Holmes (East Rowan) is batting .415 with three homers for the nation's sixth-ranked junior college team.

n Tanner Brown (North Rowan) is 2-2 for Wilkes Community College with a 3.68 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 22 innings. Jess Cartner (Davie) is batting .381 for Wilkes. Jacob Dobbins (North) has 12 RBIs, and Billy Veal (North) is batting .379 with 13 RBIs.

n Jacob Wright (A.L. Brown) is crushing the ball for Stanly Community College. He has seven homers and 14 RBIs in 13 games and is batting .405.

David Ijames (East) is batting .375 with 11 RBIs for Stanly's Eagles, while Robbie Ijames (East) is hitting .366 with two homers and 12 RBIs.

n Alex Britt (Salisbury) is 2-1 for Guilford Tech with 13 strikeouts (and only two walks) in 152/3 innings.

n Justin Roland (East) is batting .348 in Charlotte's first 11 games. Ross Steedley (East) is back swinging a bat and is 2-for-6. He had a pinch hit on Saturday.

n UNC Pembroke left-hander Rudy Brown (South Rowan) is 2-1 in eight appearances and has struck out 20 in 142/3 innings. His ERA is 0.61.

Brown was dominant in a recent outing against Lander, fanning seven in 32/3 innings.

n South Carolina's Whit Merrifield (Davie) is batting .317 with three homers and 13 RBIs. The Gamecocks are off to a 10-4 start.

n Jonathon Basinger (South) went 2-for-3 with a homer for Virginia Intermont in a 19-9 loss to Lincoln Memorial.

n Ryan Overcash (NW Cabarrus) has a 2-0 record for Davidson.

n Jerod Faggart (NWC) is batting .317 with two homers and 10 RBIs for Appalachian State.

n Pfeiffer split a doubleheader with Post on Saturday at Ferebee Field. Pfeiffer (13-15) lost the opener 17-8, but won the nightcap 16-3.

Eric Shoemaker hit a two-run homer in the nightcap.

n Prep softball

East Rowan opened the season with a solid 7-1 win against Central Davidson.

Chelsea White pitched a three-hitter, struck out nine and knocked in three runs at the plate. Sydney Poole had two RBIs. Ericka Nesbitt stole three bases and scored twice.

n Mooresville topped Northwest Cabarrus 3-2 on Jasmine Berryman's game-winning single.

Megan Hillard homered for the Blue Devils (3-0). Hope Smith doubled and drove in a run. Margaret Whitestone was the winning pitcher.

n College softball

Charlotte's 49ers are off to a 14-3 start. Whitney Williams (Davie) leads the team with a .382 batting average. Serena Smith (NW Cabarrus) is batting .340 with 17 RBIs.

n Walters State's Erin Foster (West Rowan) had three hits, including two triples, in a 6-4 victory against Indian Hills-Ottumwa.

n Meredith's Olivia Izze (West) is batting .340 with 13 RBIs.

n College tennis

Pfeiffer's women lost to Erskine 5-4 on Saturday at Knapp Tennis Center. Pfeiffer is 4-2 overall but 0-2 in Conference Carolinas.

n Wheels for Hailey

A team has come together to host a "Wheels for Hailey" golf tournament, with 100 percent of the funds raised going to pay for a van for the seriously ill girl's family.

The tournament will be held at Corbin Hills on April 10.

Lunch will be served at 12:30 p.m., a putting contest begins at 1 p.m., and there will be a shotgun start at 2.

There will be numerous contests and door prizes.

The format is Captain's Choice. The entry fee is $50 per player or $200 per team.

If you are interested in helping "Wheels for Hailey" in any way, contact Susan at 704-636-2530 for more information.