King, North Greenville Advance to Women’s Basketball Second Round on Monday

2/26/2023 9:15:46 PM

MURFREESBORO/MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The 2023 Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Women’s Basketball Championship tipped off on Sunday night and ninth-seeded King and No. 10 North Greenville each advanced to Monday’s second round.

In the first game of the night, the 8-9 matchup, it was King who was able to withstand a late rally by eighth-seeded Barton for a 76-73 win on the campus of Chowan in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. The Tornado outscored the Bulldogs 27-16 in the opening quarter and maintained the lead until the 4:58 mark in the fourth quarter when a Lauren Mingo layup gave Barton the 62-61 lead. It was part of six straight points for Mingo as BC built the lead to five before back-to-back 3-pointers from Le’Aije Ellington put the Tornado back ahead for good, 67-66. King closed the final 3:32 on a 15-7 run for the final margin. Ellington finished with a career and game-high 25 points while her teammate Ashley Allen added 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Tornado. Tori Smiley also scored in double figures with 12 for King. Nyah Wilkins led the Bulldogs with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Lauren Walker added 16 points and Mingo finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

In the 7-10 matchup in Mount Olive, North Carolina it was the 10th seed, North Greenville, who came away with the 68-58 win over No. 7 Southern Wesleyan. The Crusaders trailed at the half, 27-23, but a 26-15 third quarter turned the momentum around and NGU won the fourth 19-16 for the come-from-behind victory. The game featured six ties and nine lead changes. Southern Wesleyan led by as many as eight points in the contest and led for much of the game before the Crusaders closed the third quarter on a 7-0 run and never looked back. Maliyah Lockett led all scorers with 18 points off the bench for NGU. She also had eight rebounds. Abi Oates added 16 points for the Crusaders while teammate Jayda Glass netted 15 and had seven assists, five steals and four rebounds as the duo each played all 40 minutes. Allie Newberry led Southern Wesleyan with 13 points while Lexi Greffen (12) and Shelby Glance (11) also netted double figures for the Warriors.

King will face fifth-seeded Chowan on Monday, Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. while North Greenville will face No. 6 Mount Olive also at 5 p.m. The winners of each contest will advance to the Quarterfinals held at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina on Friday, March 3.

Fans can watch every game of the tournament live via the Conference Carolinas Digital Network and BlueFrame at conferencecarolinasdn.com. Information regarding the championship schedule, bracket and Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium are available here.

2023 Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Women’s Basketball Championship
First Round – Sunday, February 26
#10 North Greenville def. #7 Southern Wesleyan, 68-58, at Mount Olive (Box Score)
#9 King def. #8 Barton, 76-73, at Chowan (Box Score)

Second Round – Monday, February 27
#10 North Greenville at #6 Mount Olive, 5 p.m.
#9 King at #5 Chowan, 5 p.m.

Quarterfinals – Friday, March 3 (Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium - Spartanburg, S.C.)
Winner of #5-#9 vs. #4 Emmanuel, 11 a.m.
Winner of #6-#10 vs. #3 UNC Pembroke, 1:30 p.m.

Semifinals – Saturday, March 4 (Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium - Spartanburg, S.C.)
Winner of #4-#5-#8-#9 vs. #1 Belmont Abbey, 12:30 p.m.
Winner of #3-#6-#7-#10 vs. #2 Francis Marion, 2:45 p.m.

Final – Sunday, March 5 (Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium - Spartanburg, S.C.)
Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2, 1 p.m.