NEWBERRY - The Lady Indians fell in overtime to the league leading Tusculum College Pioneers 68-60.  With the loss, Newberry sits at 12-5 and 3-3 in the South Atlantic Conference.  Tusculum improves to 15-2 and 5-0 in the SAC.

Newberry was held to only one field goal in the opening 12 minutes of play.  The Pioneers, with the league's best offense, opened an 18 point lead at 23-5.  However, the first half was a tale of two halves in itself.  With 7:46 on clock in the first half and trailing 24-7, Newberry caught fire.  The Lady Indians sported their top ranked defense and held Tusculum to only one field goal for the remainder of the half.  In that time, Newberry went on an 18-2 run.  The Lady Indians went 11 for 13 from the charity stripe in the first half helping to erase the 18 point deficit.  Tusculum went into the locker room hanging on to a one point lead at 26-25.

Leanne Watson (Stone Mountain, Ga.), who had 10 points on the night, hit a jumper to start the second half and give Newberry its first lead of the game.  From there, the two teams battle back and forth.  The lead changed hands seven different times and was tied on nine occasions. 

The eighth tie came with 2:32 to play in the game when Tusculum's Nikki Van Dine hit a three-pointer to make the score 51-51.  However, Newberry answered quickly when Laura Marquardt (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) nailed a jumper off a Watson pass to give the lead back to the Lady Indians with 2:10 left in regulation.  Both teams went stale for the next two minutes as neither side was able to convert a basket.  With Newberry holding on by the narrowest of margins, the Pioneers' Stephany Neptune hit a jumper with 11 seconds on the clock to send the game into the overtime.

Overtime was all about free throws.  Newberry and Tusculum each hit three field goals in the extra frame; however the Pioneers went a perfect 8 for 8 from the free throw line to seal the victory.  Those eight points were Tusculum's final eight points of the game.

Newberry's Tacarra Harris (Tupelo, Miss.) had a game high 16 points.  Harris also brought down 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.  Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, S.C.) recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Watson hit the double digit mark for the fourth time this season with 10 points while grabbing seven rebounds.  Janine Ward (Tallevast, Fla.) also had seven rebounds and added five points to go along with her team high four steals.

Newberry is the first conference team to hold Tusculum under 70 points. 

Tusculum's Neptune and Kat Spears each had a double-double in the game with Neptune scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.  Spears also had 14 points to go with her game high 13 rebounds.  Ashli Oliver chipped in with 10 points. 

Newberry returns to action this Saturday as they travel to face off with Catawba College.  Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m.