LOCALS IN COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: Watkins off to strong start for Liberty

BY TIM HAYES

Bristol Herald Courier

Courtney Watkins’ senior season for the Liberty University women’s basketball team is off to an impressive start.

In Liberty’s 62-44 season-opening win over UNC Greensboro on Nov. 13, the former Tennessee High star pieced together a solid all-around performance. Watkins finished with seven points, five rebounds, three assists and blocked a shot.

Three days later, Watkins scored a career-high 15 points in Liberty’s 68-64 victory over North Carolina A&T.

Watkins was 6-of-12 from the field, including a 3-of-5 showing from 3-point range. She also grabbed five rebounds, dished out five assists and collected a steal.

Liberty (2-1) dropped a 73-68 decision to Virginia Tech on Monday night, despite 11 points from Watkins.

Mullins in basketball mecca

Former Honaker High School star Ashley Mullins got to play in one of college basketball’s most famous arenas on Sunday as the UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team suffered an 84-39 loss to national power Duke University at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Mullins was 1-of-5 from the field and finished with three points. She also grabbed a team-high six rebounds for the Spartans (0-3). Mullins is currently averaging four points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

Haysi Hero

Whitney Compton (Haysi) is averaging 6.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game for the Pikeville (Ky.) College women’s basketball team.

Scorsome scoreless in debut

Former Abingdon High School star and Virginia Intermont College transfer Michael Scorsome made his debut for the Bridgewater (Va.) College men’s basketball team in the Eagles’ 56-46 loss to Penn State-Behrend on Saturday.

Scorsome was 0-for-2 from the field, but did grab a rebound.

Poole among Big South’s best

Radford University junior Lindsey Poole (Tennessee High) was a second-team selection on the All-Big South Conference’s volleyball team.

Poole was a force all season at the net for Radford (8-23) and finished the season with a team-high 301 kills. She also recorded 86 digs and 47 blocks.

Meade makes playoffs

The University of the Cumberlands — the team that earned the Mid-South Conference’s East Division bid to the national playoffs over the University of Virginia’s College at Wise — fell to Ohio Dominican, 62-35, on Saturday in the first round of the NAIA playoffs.

Ohio Dominican (12-0) finished with 648 yards of total offense. Former Virginia High standout Hunter Meade started at kicker for Cumberlands (8-3) and was 5-of-5 on extra points, 0-of-1 on field goals and also handled the kickoff duties.

Meade helped the Patriots make their first postseason appearance since 1988 and established a single-season record for PATs (38).

Miller makes playoffs too

Zach Miller (Lebanon) started at wide receiver for Hampden-Sydney College in the Tigers’ 45-17 loss to Wesley (Del.) in the first round of the NCAA Division III football playoffs.

Miller had two carries for negative-three yards, but did have two kickoff returns for 36 yards.

McKinney strong in defeat

VMI’s football team suffered a 70-28 loss to rival The Citadel on Saturday, but it didn’t stop linebacker Patrick McKinney from having another stellar performance.

The former Powell Valley High School star led VMI with 10 tackles. Five of the stops were of the solo variety, one of which was for a loss.

McKinney finished the season with a team-high 78 tackles.

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