MARS HILL - The Lady Indians finished their second most successful season in school history in fine fashion, defeating Mars Hill on the road by ten points, 65-55 in women's basketball action Saturday afternoon. The Lady Indians conclude their regular season at 17-10, including a 7-7 mark in the South Atlantic Conference.
Newberry's Lady Indians head into the SAC Tournament just one win shy of tying the program's single-season win total (18). Newberry's 7-7 SAC record is the program's best mark since entering the conference in 1997. In addition, the Lady Indians were able to win more conference games this season than in all of the seasons combined since joining the SAC.
Newberry came out of the gates on fire, outscoring the Lions 30-6 in the first 11 minutes of play. Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, S.C.) gave the Indians a 24-point advantage by hitting a foul shot with 8:54 left in the first half. The Indians took a 19-point (39-20) lead into the locker room at halftime due in large part to hitting 47.1% (16-34) from the floor and holding MHC to a paltry 23.5% field goal percentage.
MHC whittled away at the Indians lead in the second half, and came within four points of Newberry at the 2:37 mark after Lindsey Jones (Crossville, Tenn.) hit a layup. Despite MHC outscoring Newberry 31-to-16 in the first 17 minutes of the final stanza, the Indians reeled off ten unanswered points to lead 61-51 with 1:27 remaining in regulation after Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) hit a foul shot. Newberry cruised down the stretch to the ten-point victory.
Each team scored 30 points in the paint, Newberry scored 29 points off Lion miscues, and the Lady Indians won the rebound battle 43 to 40. MHC hit 51.9% (14-27) of their shots in the second half.
Frasier and Carnicha Bellinger (Greenville, S.C.) led the Indians, scoring 22 and 21 points in the game, respectively. Frasier added a double-double, pulling down ten rebounds.
Jones was the only Lion in double figures in scoring with 12 points. She added six rebounds. Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, Tenn.) recorded five points, nine boards, and three assists in the loss.
Up next for Newberry is the SAC Tournament first round game at Catawba Wednesday night at 6 p.m.
