SPARTANBURG - Newberry guard Chance Stewart (Rougemont, N.C.) netted a career-high 23 points, 15 of those from three pointers, to lead Newberry to its first win of the 2005-06 season against USC Upstate, 76-67, at the G.B. Hodge Center Saturday afternoon.

Newberry (1-3) traded leads early with Upstate (1-3), but went ahead 7-6 off Stewart's first basket and would not trail again. The Lady Indians opened up double-digit leads three times in the first half, its last from a Stewart layup with 1:50 remaining.  The Spartans drew to 41-33 at the half behind 12 points from Shannon Pallardy (LaCrosse, Wisc.).

Upstate used a 12-6 run to pull as close as four with 3:35 left in the game off Pallardy's final three-pointer, but sophomore forward Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, S.C.) answered with a three-point play at the other end, followed by another basket off the offensive boards the next time down.  Ashlee Wright's (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) five-for-six free throw shooting and one foul shot from Frasier accounted for Newberry's last six points.

Frasier scored 12 of her 14 points in the second period. Wright and Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) also reached double figures with 11 and 10, respectively.  Alexander was a workhorse on the boards, grabbing a game- and career-high 14 rebounds.  Frasier and Alexander each had four steals.

Upstate's Yakeeshia Ross (Spartanburg, S.C.), honored before the game for scoring her 1,000th point in the previous game, recorded 19 points, nine rebounds, and three blocked shots.  Pallardy's offensive efforts matched Newberry's Stewart's, each converting five long-distance shots.  Pallardy finished with 18 points, and Julia Blandin (Simpsonville, S.C.) scored ten.

Newberry plays next at the Lady Eagle Classic in Durham, N.C., against Johnson C. Smith University next Friday at 5:30.  USC Upstate plays at Francis Marion Wednesday evening at 5:30.