From staff reportsJunior guard Nisha Long scored a career-best 22 points, 18 in the second half, to help Catawba’s women’s basketball team beat Barton 59-58 at Goodman Gym on Sunday.
Catawba (3-2) overcame an awful start and 24 turnovers to win the Comfort Suite Classics contest. The Indians missed 18 of their first 20 field-goal attempts and scored only 14 points in the first half.
Catawba’s defense kept the home team in the game, and the offense heated up (nearly 60-percent shooting) after halftime.
Dana Hicks had 11 points and 14 rebounds, her fourth straight double-double. Brooke Whitley had nine points, while Elizabeth Merritt had seven points and eight rebounds. Anna Dellapenta didn’t score but had eight rebounds and four assists.
Whitley’s three-point play with 4:52 remaining put Catawba ahead to stay. Hicks grabbed the clinching rebound.
Esty Flores led Barton’s Bulldogs (1-2) with 13 points.
BARTON (58) ó Flores 13, Shelton 11, Hamlin 9, Neal 9, Foster 6, Mitchell 6, Jackson 4.
CATAWBA (59) ó N. Long 22, Hicks 11, Whitley 9, Merritt 7, K. Long 5, Ivanovic 3, Sullivan 2, Welfare, Connor, Dellapenta.
Barton 17 41 ó 58
Catawba 14 45 ó 59
n Women’s hoops
Charleston Southern shot 48 3-pointers and hit 17 in a 76-67 loss to UNC in Chapel Hill on Sunday. The 3-point makes and attempts were records against the Tar Heels.
n Pfeiffer lost 88-81 to Armstrong Atlantic on Sunday in Savannah, Ga.
Pfeiffer (1-3) was led by Brittany Cox and Domonique China with 12 points each. Lauren Hall hit all five of her 3-point attempts and scored 24 points for the Pirates.
n Pfeiffer men score 137
Pfeiffer’s men’s basketball team won 137-81 at Washington Adventist (formerly Columbia Union) in a game played in D.C. on Saturday night.
Pfeiffer put nine players in double figures, hit 14 3-pointers, forced 38 turnovers and made 24 steals.
James Crowder led the Falcons with 25 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes. Crowder hit five 3-pointers.
Chris Woods had 25 points in 19 minutes of action. Jeff Pettiway and Isaac Carr had 13 each. Pfeiffer had 68 points in the books at halftime.
n College football
Appalachian State (10-2), the No. 5 seed, will play at No. 4 seed and defending champion Richmond (11-1) at 7 p.m. in the second round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday.
The schools are meeting for the third straight year.
The game will be televised nationally as part of ESPN’s GamePlan package and online at ESPN360.com.
n Senior running back Buck Wakefield rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns, and the Carson-Newman defense intercepted Harlon Hill candidate Harrison Beck three times in a 24-21 win at North Alabama on Saturday. Wakefield is Carson-Newman’s career record-holder with 47 touchdowns.
Carson-Newman ended an eight-game losing streak at North Alabama’s Braly Municipal Stadium. This Saturday, the 10th-ranked Eagles (11-2) will face the third-ranked Grand Valley State Lakers (12-1) at Lubbers Stadium in Allendale, Mich., at 3:30 p.m.
Carson-Newman has reached the D-II semifinals for the first time since 1999. The contest will air on ESPN. The winner plays the California (Pa.)-Northwest Missouri State winner for the D-II national championship at Braly Stadium on Dec. 12.