Quanita Bennett 13 pts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gary Holden, Sports Info. Director
(540) 365-4306

February 20, 2007


Ferrum Eliminates N.C. Wesleyan from USA South Tournament

FERRUM, Va.  --  The Ferrum College women's basketball team opened the 2007 USA South Athletic Conference Tournament with a win tonight over North Carolina Wesleyan College.  The top-seeded Panthers eliminated #8 seed N.C. Wesleyan by a score of 81-50 to advance in the tournament.

     Official Box Score:  Ferrum 81, NC Wesleyan 50

Senior guard Quanita Bennett (Virginia Beach, Va./Coastal Christian) led Ferrum with 13 points, and freshman forward Tonya Wright (Bland, Va./Bland County) had 12 points.

Freshman guards Miranda Carrasco (Vinton, Va./William Byrd) and Tiesha Terry (Danville, Va./George Washington) had 11 points each to pace the Panthers.

Ferrum (20-6) led 27-18, at halftime but opened the second half with a 13-5 run to extend its lead to 40-23 with 15:20 remaining.  The Panthers never looked back, shooting 48 percent from the floor in the second half to the Bishops' 31 percent.

N.C. Wesleyan (4-21) was led by Lawanda Scott, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Shameika Faircloth and April Wilson had 10 points each for the Bishops.

In the other quarterfinal games, #2 Christopher Newport University defeated #7 Averett University 61-50, #3 Greensboro College defeated #6 Peace College 84-79, and #4 Shenandoah University defeated #5 Methodist University 66-62.

The semifinals and championship will be played at Christopher Newport University in Newport News Friday and Saturday, February 23-24.  Ferrum will face Shenandoah in one semifinal, while Greensboro and Methodist will play in the other.  The championship is set for Saturday at 2 p.m.  Please visit the 2007 USA South Tournament web site for scores, live stats and webcasts.

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