Greensboro, N.C. / Raleigh, N.C. - The Battling Bishop women's hoops squad picked up a pair of USA South road wins over the weekend, knocking of Greensboro and William Peace to end the regular season on a 4-game win streak. Wesleyan finishes conference play with an 8-6 record and will take a 13-12 overall mark into next weekend's conference tourney divisional round.
On Saturday, NCWC posted a 62-59 victory at Greensboro College behind a team-high 14 points from senior Timyra Staton, who was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor. The Bishops used a strong second quarter to take a 10-point lead into the half, 29-19, and went on to lead by as many as 16 late in the third quarter. Though the Pride would make things interesting down the stretch, Wesleyan would never trail in the second half and did just enough at the free throw line to secure the 3-point victory.
Joining Staton in double-figures was fellow senior Alexis Fitzgerald with 12 points, while sophomore Tylecia Williams chipped in eight points off the bench. Junior KeChae Parker hauled in a team-high nine rebounds for the Bishops, who shot over 41 percent from the floor in the contest.
Kamerin Williams paced the Pride (14-10, 9-4 USA South) with a double-double of 12 points and 11 boards.
On Sunday, the Bishops battled it out with William Peace in Raleigh. NCWC found itself clinging to a slim 31-29 at the half, which the Pacers (16-8, 8-6 USA South) quickly erased by out-scoring Wesleyan 24-14 in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter saw WPU go up 10 points on two occasions, the latter coming at 63-53 with 6:11 remaining. The Bishops then exploded for 27 points in the final six minutes of play to erase the deficit and steal the improbable victory, 80-76. Six different Bishops found the scoring column during the pivotal run, including Fitzgerald who finished with a game-high 21 points. She and Parker combined to go 17-of-20 at the charity stripe in the contest, providing several clutch free throws in the closing seconds.
Parker narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Williams continued her solid play of late with 13 points of her own. Freshman Caila Spruill pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Bishops, who currently boast a 5-1 record in the month of February, will enter the USA South Tournament as the East Division's #4 seed. Wesleyan heads to top-seeded Ferrum College next Saturday where they will once again face the 5th-seeded Pacers. First round divisional play will tip off at 4:00pm, with the winner set to take on the host Panthers in Sunday's quarterfinal round.