NEWBERRY - Newberry College placed four freshmen in double digits and expanded on a 20-point halftime lead to rout Southern Wesleyan University, 99-57, in women's college basketball action Tuesday night at Eleazer Arena. With the win, the Lady Indians tie a school-best 9-3 start with the team from 1985-86, and a win Saturday would equal the best start in the program's history through 13 games.
Ninety-nine points is the most scored by a Scarlet and Gray squad since February 22, 1997, when Newberry blew out Limestone, 101-41, in the season finale.
Claire Hogan (Lansing, Mich.) scored a career-high 14 points and grabbed five rebounds. Taquala Cooks (Lithonia, Ga.), in her first game back from an injury, notched 12 points and seven boards. Ashley Marine (Peachtree City, Ga.) and Carnicha Bellinger (Greenville, S.C.) put in 11 apiece.
Senior guard Laura Banda (Holcomb, Kan.) received the jumpball tip from Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, S.C.), and scored two seconds into the game to set the tone for the night. The Lady Indians never trailed, and were only tied twice in the early going.
The contest was mostly nip-and-tuck for the first 12 minutes until the home team unleashed a 12-0 barrage, capped off by Cooks' four-point play with 6:32 left in the half. Newberry grew the lead to 21 before settling for a 45-25 score at the break.
The Indians' lead topped 30 with a pair of Tonya Deese (Newberry, S.C.) free throws. Newberry closed the game as strong as it started, outscoring the opposition 16-4 in the final three-and-a-half minutes.
Newberry benefited from a 53-39 advantage on the boards and 75% foul shooting, going 24-32 on the night. The teams combined for 59 fouls and 71 free throw attempts.
The Lady Indians turned 30 Warrior turnovers into 29 points on the other end. Newberry dominated the paint with a 34-20 scoring edge. Seventy-three of NC's 99 points came from reserves.
Southern Wesleyan's Katrina Hegeman (Miami, Fla.) was the only opponent to reach double figures, scoring 16 in 27 minutes of play.
The Lady Warriors were hampered by foul trouble, as two players finished the game with four fouls and two were disqualified. SWU head coach Chris Williams was also tagged with a pair of technical fouls which earned him an early exit.
Newberry has won 12 of its last 13 meetings with Southern Wesleyan (6-6), but dropped last year's contest at Central, S.C.
Next up for the Lady Indians is the conference opener at home against Carson-Newman Saturday at 2 p.m. SWU hits the road Thursday for a 6 p.m. matchup against Berry College.
