Box Score Wilson, N.C. – Conference-leading Barton College (12-4, 11-1) was happy to escape with a 62 to 53 win tonight over the hard-working Erskine Flying Fleet in women’s basketball action at Wilson Gymnasium.

From the opening tip, it was evident the game was going to be a defensive struggle.  The first minute of play featured four turnovers, two by each team, and neither game gained more than a three point lead through the first twelve minutes of play.  Barton finally took their largest lead of the half at 8 points capitalizing on three consecutive Fleet turnovers for six points.  Erskine’s Andrienne Bannerman (Watha, NC, Pender High School) trimmed the lead to five points at intermission with a 3-point basket with 11 seconds remaining.

After surrendering a traditional 3-point play to Barton to open the second half, Erskine’s Tara Potter (Sherrills Ford, NC, Bandys High School) converted her own old-fashion play to cut the Bulldog lead to four points at 36 to 32.

At that point, the young Fleet suffered through one of their letdowns that has plagued them this season, committing three consecutive turnovers and missing an open layup.  Barton exploited Erskine’s mistakes scoring eleven unanswered points to take a 47 to 32 lead.

Head Coach Russ Gregg refocused his squad and Erskine began grinding their way back into the game.  With a little over three minutes left to play, Potter feed sophomore Raven Jordan (Wilmington, NC, Wilmington Christian Academy) on a cut to the basket for an easy layup that pulled the Fleet within two points at 54 to 52.  Barton scored on their next two possessions while the Erskine missed on their opportunities.  Barton hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the 62 to 53 victory.

Both Bannerman and Potter finished with “double-doubles” on the night.  Bannerman filled the stat sheet with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block.  Potter scored 13 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.  She also had 3 assists, 3 steals and a block.  SophomoreHaleigh Spaulding (Ocala, FL) scored a season-high 11 points as well.

The Bulldogs also had three players reach double-digits in scoring.  Elaine Morgan scored a game-high 19 points while grabbing a co-team-high 7 rebounds.  Shante Neal had 14 points and shared team-high rebound honors with 7.  Janae Jackson ended with 13 points while victimizing the Fleet for an 8 steals.  As a team, Barton had 19 steals and forced Erskine into 30 turnovers.  Erskine had not turn the ball over that many times since the second game of the season against Carson-Newman.

Erskine steps out of conference on Tuesday to play Allen University.  Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.