From staff reports
Catawba’s women rallied past Virginia Union while Lenoir-Rhyne won a tight battle with J.C. Smith at the Comfort Suites Classic at Goodman Gym on Friday night.
Catawba (4-1) claimed a 71-62 victory over VUU (2-3), while the Bears (3-1) topped J.C. Smith (3-3) by a 66-60 count.
Catawba fell behind by nine points early in the second half before a 16-5 run, capped by a three-pointer by Nisha Long that gave the Indians the lead for good at 44-42 with 10:49 remaining. VUU had scored the final five points of the opening half to take a 30-26 lead to the break.
After the Long three-pointer, Catawba moved out to a 52-44 lead with just over eight minutes to go when Brooke Whitley sank a jumper from behind the arc. A second Whitley three pushed the margin to 62-50 with 4:28 left.
The Panthers pulled within six in the final three minutes, but Long hit four free throws in the final two minutes to keep Catawba out front. After shooting just 33 percent in the opening half, including a 1-12 effort from behind the arc, the Indians hit on 51 percent in the final half and canned 4-of-7 from long range.
Freshman Maggie Sullivan posted a double-double for Catawba with 14 points and 10 rebounds while adding four steals. Long tossed in 13 with Whitley added 12.
–
Lenoir-Rhyne won a see-saw battle with J.C. Smith in a game that saw 14 lead changes.
After the Bears jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, the teams would not be separated by more than three points the final 15 minutes of the opening half. A jumper at the buzzer of the first stanza by Amber Holt gave the Bears a 31-29 edge at the break.
The Golden Bulls would hold a pair of one-point leads in the second half, but a 3-point play by Denise Moore gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 43-41 lead and the Bears never trailed again. JCSU pulled within a point with 3:45 left when Terran Quattlebaum hit the second of two free throws with 3:45 remaining, but Moore hit three free throws over the next 40 seconds for a 6-56 lead.
Holt hit a pair from the stripe with 18 seconds left for a 64-60 lead and after a missed shot by JCSU, Jami Safrit iced the game with two free throws with five seconds to play.
Moore led the way for L-R with 26 points, while Holt had 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
n DeSanto update
The fight was put off twice but Domini DeSanto, the 19-year-old boxer from Spencer, is rady for his third professional fight.
On December 6 in Charlotte, DeSanto will be fighting 31-year-old Jason Jorden from Akron, Ohio, a veteran of 38 professional fights. It will be an eight-round fight for the CBO (Carolina Boxing Organization) championship in the junior Welterweight division.
If DeSanto wins this title he will be the youngest boxer to ever do so.
Information, directions and tickets can be obtained from Force Fitness at 108 Fourth Street in Spencer or call 704-636-7896.