HICKORY, N.C. - Newberry College's sophomores Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) and Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, S.C.) scored 21 points apiece to lead the No. 5 seed Lady Indians to a 70-55 upset of top seed Wingate University in the semifinals of the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament held this afternoon at the Catawba Valley Community College.

Newberry (17-12) advances to the program's first Food Lion SAC Tournament championship game with the victory. The Lady Indians will take on the winner of the No. 2 seed Carson-Newman College/No. 7 seed Tusculum College game Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm. Wingate, the tournament's top seed, has its 12-game win streak snapped with the loss and drops to 23-6 on the season.

In the first half, Wingate's junior Petra Nagy (Budapest, Hungary) gave the Bulldogs an early 3-0 lead, but Newberry responded with a 16-6 run to pull ahead 16-9 on a layup by sophomore Ashlee Wright (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) at the 13:19 mark. After Wingate trimmed the lead to 18-13 at the 9:22 mark on a jumper by All-SAC selection, junior Emily Paffrath (Bakersville, N.C.), the Lady Indians put together a 9-0 run to pull ahead 27-13 with 5:59 remaining in the half.

Newberry continued to hold a double figure lead the rest of the half and led 35-23 entering halftime. Alexander led the Lady Indians in the first half with 10 points on four of five shooting from the field, while Wingate was led by SAC Player of the Year selection, junior Tanetra Barrett (Marshville, N.C.) who tallied 10 first half points. The Lady Indians shot 51.7 percent from the floor in the first half, while the Bulldogs shot only 34.6 percent.

The Lady Indians opened the second half on a 12-4 run to pull ahead 47-27 at the 15:49 mark on a pair of free throws by Wright. Wingate would trim the lead to12 points at 51-39 at the 10:38 mark on a layup by Barrett, but the Lady Indians responded with 10-2 run over the next three minutes to push the lead back to 20 points at 61-41 with 7:06 remaining. Wingate would make a final run in the final moments to cut the lead to 70-55 as time expired.

Alexander hit nine of 13 field goals on the day and dished out seven assists, while All-SAC standout, Frasier hit seven-of-11 field goals added seven boards for the Lady Indians. Wright rounded out the double figure scorers for Newberry with 14 points and six assists. Wingate was led by Barrett's game-high 22 points on eight-of-18 shooting from the floor and added five assists.

Alexander is the holder of two single-season records: made free throws (125) and assists (138).  Frasier is two points shy of the ninth-best scoring total in a single season and has recorded five straight games with more than 20 points each.

The Lady Indians shot 51.9 percent from the floor for the game and held a 38-29 advantage on the backboards, while Wingate shot only 37 percent from the floor for the game.

"Our ladies kept their composure tonight, and stuck to the execution of the game plan," said Newberry head coach Jason Brink.  "They carried out the offense and the defensive effort was outstanding.  [Allowing only] 23 points in a half is more than I could have asked for from them."

2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament
No. 5 seed Newberry College vs. No. 1 seed Wingate University
03/04/06 3 p.m. at CVCC Arena, Hickory, N.C.