MARS HILL, N.C. - The Newberry women's basketball team, led by a career-high 27 points from Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, S.C.) and a career-high 14 rebounds from Cortney Snowden (Augusta, Ga.), picked up a huge South Atlantic Conference Tournament first-round victory at Mars Hill this evening, 72-67, after losing to the Lions 80-72 last Saturday at home. The Lady Indians outrebounded Mars Hill 44-30 and shot 85% from the charity stripe in the win. Newberry improves to 16-12 overall, while Mars Hill slips to 16-12 and is knocked out of the tournament.
"It's great to be going back to the semi-finals for the second year in a row," stated head coach Jason Brink. "The difference between Saturday's game and today was that we held Mars Hill to 67 points and the girls put great effort on the boards and held them 12 points under their average. They showed great guts and I'm proud of what they have accomplished."
Mars Hill came out firing in the second half, as they canned three three-pointers in the first five minutes. The Lions used a 12-4 run to take a 46-45 lead with 15:45 to go, their first lead since early in the first half. Newberry was able to respond with a 7-0 run of their own, sparked by feisty defense and several fast break baskets.
Kristi Ferris (Knoxville, Tenn.) continued her solid shooting by capping a 7-2 run with her second three of the game. The basket brought Mars Hill to within one, 54-53, with 12:34 to play. Newberry built a six-point lead just minutes later, 62-56, off an 8-3 spurt but Mars Hill's Ariel Okunowo (Decatur, Ga.) hit a timely three, bringing the Lions back to within three, 64-61, with under five remaining.
Mars Hill came within one, 65-64, with 3:31 to play, but Snowden's rebound with 1:10 left gave Newberry the ball with a two-point advantage, 67-65. Seconds later, Snowden's offensive rebound and follow put the Lady Indians up 69-65, with 46 ticks left. Frasier proceeded to take over the game, as her rebound with :13 left sealed the Newberry victory.
Frasier led all scorers with 27, while Tonya Deese (Newberry, S.C.) and Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) eached added 14 and Ashlee Wright (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) chipped in 13. Snowden tallied 14 rebounds while Deese contributed 10. Abby DeBusk (New Tazewell, Tenn.) led Mars Hill with 16 points, while Ferris was held to 14 and Lindsey Jones (Crossville, Tenn.) was held to 10.
The Lady Indians fell down early in the game, 8-4, but responded with a huge 13-2 run giving them a seven-point lead, 17-10, with 11:51 remaining. Newberry put on a display of excellent help defense after pressuring the Mars Hill guards extensively throughout the half. A 12-4 run with under five minutes in the half gave the Lady Indians a 12-point, 31-19, advantage with 3:36 to go.
The Lady Lions and Ferris answered back with a 9-0 run late in the half, closing the gap to three, 31-28, with under two to play. Both teams made small runs with under a minute to go as Mars Hill closed the half with a 4-0 spurt. Newberry held the lead, 37-32, heading into the locker rooms.
Frasier and Wright carried Newberry in the opening half with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Lady Indians shot a blistering 50% from the field in the half, while Mars Hill shot 37.5%.
Up next for the Lady Indians is a SAC Tournament semi-final match-up with first seed Wingate University on March 4. The action is set to begin at 3 p.m. in Hickory, N.C.
