Lady Flames face region host Eckerd
The Lee University women’s basketball team plays host Eckerd College today at 5 p.m. in the eight-team NCAA Division II South Regional, the first phase of the national tournament. The Tritons are 26-4 and went 16-2 against Sunshine State Conference opponents this season. They have four players with double-figure scoring averages: Victoria Vines (13.1), Kacie Juday (11.8), 6-foot-3 Ashley Folsom (11.6) and Anna Deegan (10.6). Lee’s Lady Flames (20-10) are led by Erin Walsh (14.0), Carrie Cheeks (12.4), Abby Bertram and Lindsey Roddy (9.0), and Cheeks averages 8.1 rebounds with Bertram averaging 4.1 assists. The winner will play Florida Southern or Rollins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. “This is a quality regional field and we’re excited about the opportunity to compete against some of the best teams in the South,” Lee coach Marty Rowe said in a release.
› Before beginning March as the Southern Conference defensive player of the year and tournament MVP, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior center Jasmine Joyner was the SoCon women’s basketball player of the month for February — just as she had been for January. Joyner averaged 15.1 points and 12.9 rebounds a game and shot 58.6 percent from the field in February.
› Dalton State is one of the No. 1 seeds in the NAIA Division I men’s tournament next week in Kansas City, Mo., and the third-ranked Roadrunners (274) will open play Thursday at 6:45 EDT against Harris-Stowe State (19-12) from Missouri.
› With an 81-62 loss Thursday to College of the Ozarks, Reinhardt became the third AAC team to exit the NAIA Division II women’s basketball tournament in the first round at Sioux City, Iowa. Rebecca Cheeks from Sonoraville had 17 points and 19 rebounds, Jada Hubbard from Heritage had 16 points and three steals and Erika Woodfin from Dade County had eight points and three blocks for Reinhardt (27-6).
› The Motlow State basketball teams won their semifinals Thursday in the TCCAA/ NJCAA Region VII tournament at Morristown, Tenn. The second-seeded Lady Bucks will face top-seeded host Walters State for the title after beating Jackson State 77-68 behind 23 and 20 points from Sara Vujacic and Tamiah Stanford, and the top-seeded Motlow men beat Roane State 75-66 with 19 points from Isaiah Hart, 17 and five steals from Javion Hamlet and 15 points and nine rebounds from Damarcus Williams.
GOLF
› The UTC women’s golf team is in fourth place after Thursday’s two rounds in the River Landing Classic at Wallace, N.C., after shooting 292 and 299. East Tennessee State leads the 11-team field at 584, followed by Penn State at 586 and East Carolina at 588. UTC’s Cristina Perez is tied for 11th individually at 147, Monica San Juan is tied for 14th at 148 and Holly Morgan, Megan Woods and Maddy McDaniel are at 150, 151 and 152.
TRACK & FIELD
› Samford sophomore Selena Popp from Baylor School was the SoCon women’s field athlete of the month for February. Popp set a league indoor meet record of 3,779 points in winning the pentathlon and also won the meet’s high jump and finished fifth in long jump. She totaled 24 points in Samford’s team championship.
› Lee University’s Justin Brooks advanced to the men’s 400-meter final at the NCAA Division II indoor track and field meet with a seventh-place finish Thursday in the preliminaries at the Birmingham CrossPlex. His time was 47.84 seconds. The final is set for 4:45 p.m. EST Saturday.
FISHING
› Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., is in fifth place after the first day of the FLW Tour bass tournament on the Harris Chain of lakes in central Florida. Morgan, the tour’s points champion three of the last four years, totaled 21 pounds, 13 ounces with his five keepers Thursday. John Cox of DeBary, Fla., leads at 25-11. Former Ooltewah resident Jay Kendrick of Grant, Ala., is 19th at 16-14, Michael Neal of Dayton is 26th at 15-9 and Wesley Strader of Spring City is 38th at 14-1.
VOLLEYBALL
› Assistant coach Amber Weaver has moved up to head coach of the Georgia Northwestern Technical College volleyball program. She succeeded Carrie
Powell, who resigned after five seasons for family reasons, according to a school release. Weaver also assisted in women’s basketball under David Stephenson, who coached her at Silverdale Baptist Academy. “We’re getting someone who is familiar with our program here … and she understands what we’re trying to do philosophy-wise,” Stephenson, also the athletic director, said in the release. “She’s very excited about continuing the good work that Coach Powell started and trying to build on it. I’m super excited we’re getting someone of Amber’s quality. Carrie was an outstanding person for our program and I hate to lose her. … We wish her nothing but the best, because we wouldn’t be where we are now without her.” Said Weaver: “I’m super excited about taking over volleyball. I’m excited for the upcoming season and the new recruits coming in.”
BASEBALL
› Bryan moved up to 14th in the first NAIA in-season baseball poll of 2017 this week and pulled out a 10-inning 7-6 win at No. 15 Lindsey Wilson on Wednesday. Mikey Rita was 2-for-2 with two home runs and Kila Zuttermeister and Lake Burris each had two hits and an RBI in the 12th consecutive win for the Lions (17-5). Alec Turner was 2-for-3. Burris and Justin Morhardt homered, and Tyler Scott had the winning single.
› The Sewanee baseball team lost 8-4 Thursday to visiting Edgewood. Jared Demkowicz hit a two-run homer and Ryan Poole and Drew Mancuso each had two hits for the Tigers (7-8).
TENNIS
› Junior Davis Owen gave Sewanee the Southern Athletic Association men’s tennis player of the week for the second time in a row, following Jordan Brewer. Owen won three-set matches at No. 3 singles in the Tigers’ wins over nationally ranked Swarthmore and Washington & Lee, including the win against W&L that clinched a 5-4 team triumph.
LACROSSE
› Sewanee improved to 3-2 in men’s lacrosse this season with a 13-9 home victory Wednesday against Albion. Pat DiMento had three goals and two assists and Peter Brown had two goals, an assist and five groundballs for the Tigers, who got two goals apiece also from Hayden Hunt and Kip McGuire.