HICKORY, N.C. - Newberry College outlasted a fierce Lenoir-Rhyne squad Wednesday night, 64-60, to secure its second-ever road win against the Bears in Hickory. The Lady Indians snapped an 11-game L-R home winning streak dating back to last season.
The win was the fifth in 24 tries for Newberry (12-6, 3-3 South Atlantic Conference) all-time, and the first time that Lenoir-Rhyne (9-9, 3-3 SAC) has lost to Newberry since both schools were full members of the SAC. The Lady Indians' previous victory over L-R came on February 7, 1998, by a 73-72 count. Tonight's win broke a 12-game losing streak at the Bears' hands.
Freshman Carnicha Bellinger (Greenville, S.C.) scored 20 points, including the go-ahead jumper to break a 60-all tie with a minute left in the game. Senior Laura Banda (Holcomb, Kan.) then dropped in two foul shots on her way to eight points to conclude the game's scoring.
Although Newberry secured a double-digit lead in the opening minutes of the second period, the game was anything but a runaway. The lead alternated 13 times, five times in the final three minutes. The score was tied four times, last at 1:32 off a Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) made free throw.
The jockeying began after a 20-8 Bear spurt that erased an 11-point Scarlet lead, the largest of the game, and put the hosts in front 56-53. Bellinger converted a layup at 2:43 to cut the lead to one, then another at 2:27 to put Newberry up one. L-R forward Crystal Clary (Hampton, Va.) made a short jumper, which was answered by a Banda layup. Shannon Jones (Warrenton, N.C.) shot back with a two-pointer, giving the Bears their final lead, and points, at 60-59.
Clary paced all scorers with 27 points and was the only Bear in double figures. Similarly, Bellinger would be the only Newberry player to top ten points, making this game a Magic-Bird type of showdown.
Newberry exhibited marked improvement from the foul line, making 72.7% (16-of-22) of its attempts tonight, quite a contrast from the 58.3% and 37.0% in losses to Presbyterian and Wingate. In both games, the Indians missed more free throws than the opponent's margin of victory.
Newberry shot only 37.3% from the field compared to L-R's 45.1, but launched eight more attempts by virtue of winning the rebounding (+1) and turnover (-4) battles. A number that did not help Lenoir-Rhyne's shooting percentage was the six points obtained off 11 three-point attempts (.182 from downtown). Meanwhile, Newberry made four of 12 treys, but were 0-for-6 in the second half, accounting for L-R's ability to catch up.
Newberry looks to extend its conference winning streak Saturday when Mars Hill's Lions come to play at 2 p.m. If the Indians are successful, they will celebrate their first campaign with four or more conference wins and only their second three-game conference win streak ever.
