NEWBERRY -The Newberry College Lady Indians pushed their conference record above .500 for the first time this season, fending off Lincoln Memorial 53-49 at Eleazer Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The first match between Newberry (14-2, 3-2 SAC) and Lincoln Memorial (8-7, 1-4 SAC) in nearly 24 years, Lady Indian fans were treated to yet another heart pounding victory.
For the third time in four games outside shooting specialist Ashley Marine provided a spark off the bench. The junior guard from Peachtree City, Ga. drained 5-of-6 three-pointers en route to a career best 17 points.
Marine's most timely triple came after the Lady Railsplitters came within one point when LMU freshman Andi Winney executed an impressive backdoor cut and senior guard Madeline Richards found Winney cross-court for an easy lay-in.
Newberry scored on it's next possession at the 7:02 mark of the second half when junior forward Tonique Frasier converted a lay-up on a Monica Alexander dish to put the Lady Indians up three, 42-39.
Then , after stopping LMU on it's next possession, a driving Alexander drew the interest of the defense and then promptly kicked the ball out to Marine. With 6:11 left in the game, Marine once again found herself in a familiar position. Wide open in the nearside corner, Marine played string music, tickling the nylon and sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Up by six points with momentum, the scarlet and gray built a nine point lead with 4:16 left on the strength of another trifecta, this time by sophomore Cicely Jenkins.
A resilient Lady Railsplitter team did not go down without a fight, pulling to within four points with 44 seconds left on the clock. However, the Lady Indians literally ran out the final moments, dashing and darting around the court not letting the tiring LMU players commit a foul.
When time expired, the scoreboard read 53-49 and Newberry improved to 3-2 in the South Atlantic Conference.
Ashley Marine's 17 points led all scorers. Secondary scoring from the Lady Indians came from Frasier. The Walterboro native picked up 14 points and seven rebounds, along with two steals in 27 minutes.
Junior guard Monica Alexander notched just six points, but dished out a game high eight assists and dictated the tempo of the game on both the offensive and defensive side for Newberry.
The Lady Indians once again tightened up their defense effort in the second half, holding Lincoln Memorial to just 26.1 percent shooting in the second (6-of-23), and 37 percent overall (17-of-46).
The scarlet and gray won the turnover battle, yielding 19 while forcing 23 from the Lady Railsplitters.
For LMU, Winney registered 14 points including 8-of-8 at the free throw line and Madeline Richards tallied 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field.
The Lady Indians next play on the road in Greeneville, Tenn. in a 2 p.m. tilt with Tusculum College next Saturday, January 20.
