Women's Basketball 11/15/2007 5:00:00 AM MEAC Media Relations

S. C. State Falls to Winthrop

Visiting Winthrop built a 24-point lead with just over 14 minutes to play, then beat back a rally by South Carolina State in earning a 70-58 victory over the host Wednesday at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

Franchesca Davenport’s layup with 14:25 on the clock put Winthrop ahead 51-27 before Sophilia Hipps, who led all scorers with 25 points, nailed a 3-pointer to start a Lady Bulldog rally that closed the gap to nine, at 59-50, on a jumper by Sasha Sales with 5:58 to play.

Ashley Fann put in a short jumper for Winthrop to push the lead to 61-50 with 5:40 left and the closest SC State got after that was 10 points, the last time at 68-58, but by that time only 44 seconds remained.

Winthrop led by as many as 20 points in the first half before settling for a 43-24 advantage at intermission.

The loss was the second in as many outings for SC State, which fell to 0-2 on the year. Winthrop climbed to 3-1 with the victory.

Following Hipps in the scoring column for the Lady Bulldogs were Sales with 11 points and Patience Figgins with 10. Jenell Moore had a game-high nine rebounds for SC State, which enjoyed a 39-34 edge on the boards.

The Lady Eagles were led by Fann with 17 points. Ashley Haughtvedt added 13 and Jennifer Walker 10 for the visitors.

Coach Tonya Mackey’s Lady Bulldogs return to action Tuesday when they play at Coastal Carolina in a 6 p.m. contest.