The Wingate Women’s Basketball Team (8-6, 6-1) remained tied atop the South Atlantic Conference standings with a 71-54 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne (4-7, 3-4) Wednesday evening at Cuddy Arena.

The Bulldogs’ Kelli Bonner (Yadkinville, N.C.) finished with a team-high 15 points and hit five treys as Wingate won its fourth straight game and completed the season sweep of the Bears.

Chantal Dunbar (Virginia Beach, Va.) added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Wingate, who remained tied for first in the conference with Carson-Newman.

Lenoir-Rhyne was led by senior guard Jenni Gust (Colfax, Wis.) with 16 points, a game-high, while senior All-American guard Jazmine Charles (Lexington, N.C.) added 11 points but the Bears shot just 41 percent (21-of-51) for the game in the loss.

Lenoir-Rhyne cut the lead to 35-32 just over two minutes into the second half on a field goal by junior guard Jordan Hiatt (Mount Airy, N.C.) but Wingate responded with 13-1 run to take control of the game. Hiatt finished with 10 points as well in the losing effort.

Wingate also held a 39-22 advantage in rebounding and hit 15-of-17 free attempts (88 percent) in the victory as well.

In the next round of South Atlantic Conference games on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., Lenoir-Rhyne travels to Greeneville, Tenn., to take on Tusculum.

Girls
North Piedmont:
Alexander Central: 61
Statesville: 59

Northwestern:
Freedom: 81
Watauga: 46

Hickory: 41
South Caldwell: 34

St. Stephens: 53
Patton: 41

South Mountain Athletic:
Draughn: 69
Burns: 45

R-S Central: 48
East Burke: 37

Southern District 7:
Bandys: 53
Bunker Hill: 36

Newton-Conover: 49
Lincolnton: 39

West Caldwell: 55
East Lincoln: 48

West Lincoln: 52
Maiden: 39

Boys
North Piedmont:
Statesville: 59
Alexander Central: 45

Northwestern:
Freedom: 66
Watauga: 65

Hibriten: 62
Fred T. Foard: 56

Hickory: 72
South Caldwell: 39

Patton: 79
St. Stephens: 62

South Mountain Athletic:
Burns: 54
Draughn: 44, OT

East Burke: 47
R-S Central: 39

Southern District 7:
Bunker Hill: 79
Bandys: 66

East Lincoln: 56
West Caldwell: 50

Newton-Conover: 69
Lincolnton: 55

West Lincoln: 68
Maiden: 58

The Hickory Metro Sports Commission is seeking nominations for the 2015 class of the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame.

Established in 2000, the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame aims to recognize the extraordinary efforts and achievements of athletes, coaches, teams and contributors, while reinforcing a sense of history and tradition in Catawba County.

Deadline for nominations is Monday, Feb. 9.

"We would like for the public to get involved to find the hidden, or forgotten gems in this county's sports history," said CVSHOF Chairman JuJu Phillips.  "We are looking to unearth any coaches, players, pioneers, or contributors who deserve recognition for helping to build the sports heritage here." 

Phillips said several nominations remain on file and are part of a permanent pool of applications reviewed by the selection committee each year.

Already, 62 men and women are enshrined in the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame at Hickory’s Highland Recreation Center. Plaques representing Hall of Fame members are on permanent display and are available for public viewing daily at the recreation center.

Hall of Fame members represent a broad variety of sports, and they are individuals who distinguished themselves as athletes, coaches and/or supporters of athletic endeavors in Catawba County.

Last year’s inductees to the Hall of Fame include Jeff Barkley, John Lentz, Odell Moose and Beth L. Queen.

New members to the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame will be inducted during a ceremony at the Highland Recreation Center on Monday, May 11 at 6 p.m.

To make a nomination for the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame, complete a nomination form, which is available at the Hickory Metro Sports Commission website, www.hickorymetrosports.com. Nomination forms are also available at the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce office, located at 1055 Southgate Corporate Park Southwest in Hickory.

Nomination forms detail criteria for Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame candidates, including:
The candidate must have been a resident of the Catawba County area for at least of four years.

The candidate must have been a participant in his/her sport for at least four years.

The candidate must be of good character and reputation.

While a citizen of the Catawba County area, the candidate's sports achievement(s) and/or contributions must have been recognized throughout the Catawba County area as enhancing the sports activity he/she represents.

All candidates shall be considered without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, age, handicap or national origin.

UL Lafayette shot 51.7 percent from the field and scored 48 points in the paint to power past Appalachian State University men’s basketball, 80-64, in the Mountaineers’ first-ever Sun Belt Conference home game on Monday night at the Holmes Center.

Brian Williams led five Ragin’ Cajuns in double-figures with a game-high 15 points and propelled UL Lafayette (9-5, 3-0 Sun Belt) to its sixth win in its last seven games.

Appalachian State (4-7, 1-1 Sun Belt) trailed by just two points midway through the first half but saw the deficit balloon to 17 after a 5:02 stretch without a field goal late in the opening period. Milos Kostic (Belgrade, Serbia/IMG Academy) ended the drought with a three-pointer at the first-half buzzer but the Mountaineers went into the locker room down 38-24.

After neither team found the bottom of the net in the first two-plus minutes, Chris Burgess (Lakeland, Fla./George Jenkins) finally put the first points on the board with a jumper at the 17:44 mark to give the Mountaineers their only lead of the game.

The Cajuns tied it on Kasey Shepherd’s layup on the ensuing possession, then took the lead on a Devonta Walker jumper 30 seconds later and never trailed again.

Appalachian remained within striking distance until the final 10 minutes of the opening half, when UL Lafayette reeled off a 10-2 run to stretch its lead to 23-13 with 7:10 to go.

After Frank Eaves (Greensboro, N.C./Page) cut the deficit to six points (23-17) with 6:38 remaining, App State went cold and hit just 2-of-8 from the floor to close out the period.

App State cut the deficit to 12 early in the second half but never pulled closer the rest of the way. The Ragin’ Cajuns grabbed their first 20-popint lead (56-35) on Shawn Long’s dunk with 14:27 left in the ballgame and never led by less than 14 the rest of the way.

Michael Obacha (Edo State, Nigeria/High Point Christian Academy) led Appalachian with a season-high 12 points. Tommy Spagnolo (West Jefferson, N.C./Ashe County [Radford]) added 11 points and freshman Landon Goesling (Irving, Texas/Coppell) chipped in with a career-high 10 to round out three Mountaineers in double-figures. Obacha and Spagnolo also grabbed a team-best seven rebounds each.

Obacha, Spagnolo and Goesling combined to make 13-of-25 field-goal attempts (.520) but the rest of the squad shoot just 12-of-39 (.308) from the field.

UL Lafayette saw five players score in double figures. Brian Williams poured in a game-high 15 while Bryce Washington added 14 off the bench and ripped down eight boards.

Shepherd finished with 15 while Long and Walker each added 10. Long fell just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds.

On the night, the Ragin’ Cajuns shot 51.7 percent (31-of-60) while limiting Appalachian to just 39.1 percent (25-of-64) from the floor. UL Lafayette hauled in 38 rebounds to App State’s 36 and dished out 18 assists.

The Mountaineers must rebound quickly as they hit the road again for Sun Belt contests at South Alabama and UALR on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Tipoff for Thursday’s contest at South Alabama is slated for 8:05 p.m. (ET).

NOTES: Appalachian State fell to 0-3 all-time against UL Lafayette ... the Ragin’ Cajuns 80 points were the second-most by an Appalachian opponent this season (84 - at Furman, Nov. 19) ... for the second-straight game, the Mountaineers shot under 60.0 percent from the charity stripe (58.8 percent) ... freshman forward Griffin Kinney (Delaware, Ohio/Fork Union Military Academy) did not play as he returned home on Sunday to attend his grandmother’s funeral ... Monday’s game was Appalachian’s first home game in 29 days ... it was the longest stretch without a home game since the Mountaineers went 32 days without a home contest from Nov. 16-Dec. 18, 2010.