SAC Tournament: Catawba women knock off Anderson
Published 11:57 pm Wednesday, March 1, 2017
ANDERSON, S.C. — Catawba’s women’s basketball team pulled off the biggest surprise of the first day of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, winning at Anderson, 70-64.
Catawba (16-12) is the seventh seed. Anderson (21-6), which beat Catawba recently at Goodman Gym in overtime, was the No. 2 seed.
Catawba will play third-seeded Wingate in a semifinal at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Furman’s Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. Top-seeded Lincoln Memorial plays Carson-Newman in the early semifinal.
Catawba had to overcome a dismal start after digging a 20-7 hole with cold shooting. Anderson led after a quarter, 24-12. Marshauna Butler kept Catawba in the game with Terri Rogers and Bri Johnson off to slow starts.
Johnson scored to give Catawba a 61-60 edge with 3:30 left. Neither team scored over the next several possessions before Elizabeth Webb added a Catawba point with a free throw with 1:59 to play.
Anderson had a chance to tie with 16 seconds left but was only able to split two free throws.
Butler hit two free throws with 13 seconds left, and Alexis Newbold stole an inbound pass and cashed in two more to put Catawba up five. Johnson and Brown added two free throws each in the final 11 seconds and the upset was complete.
Rogers had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Butler posted 15 points, with Johnson and Brown each adding a dozen. Newbold pulled down 11 rebounds and scored eight points.
Alexy Mollenhauer led Anderson with 17 points and eight rebounds.
CATAWBA (70) —Rogers 17, Butler 15, Brown 12, Johnson 12, Newbold 8, Webb 6, Hallman, Hodges, M. Franklin, Tucker.
ANDERSON (64) — Mollenhauer 17, Jankowy 13, J. Franklin 10, Young 7, Baggett 6, Sims 5, Koerperich 4, Martin 2.
Catawba 12 26 15 17 — 70
Anderson 24 13 12 15 —64
