NEWBERRY - The Newberry College women's basketball team earned their third straight win Wednesday night by defeating the Augusta State Lady Jaguars, 75-54.

Current SAC Player of the Week Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) led the way for the scarlet and gray and earned her third straight double-double with team highs in both points (25) and rebounds (14), both career highs for McKinney at Newberry. Her 25 points are also the most any player has scored in a game this season. After a cold start to the season, Janine Ward (Tallevast, Fla.) played very efficient basketball with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Her points total is a new season high and only three points shy of her career mark.

The player of the game for Augusta State was Porsha White (Hephzibah, Ga.) with a team high 7 rebounds. She sank 5-of-6 from the field and tallied 12 points. The leading scorer for the Lady Jags was Nicole Mealing (North Augusta, S.C.) with 13 points.

Augusta State played with an up-tempo style Wednesday night which caught Newberry off guard at the start of the game. The Lady Jaguars scored the first seven points of the game, but Newberry came back to tie the game up at 12-all. ASU then went on tis second scoring run of the night with six straight points. They held their lead until the scarlet and gray came storming back with seven minutes remaining. NC went on a 16-3 run to take the lead at the halfway mark, 36-29.

The stats for both teams were almost identical in the first half. Both teams shot 36% for the field and 30.8% from beyond the arc. What made the difference for Newberry was their ability to get to the line more often (4-of-6 from the foul line) and their eight second chance points.

Newberry fans can thank Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) and Sade Coates (Meridian, Miss.) for their team's second chance points. The two combined for seven offensive rebounds in the first half, equaling the Lady Jags' total. Bulcher scored a team high 10 points in the first half and finished the night with 14 points, eight rebounds and a season high three assists. Coates finished with six boards and four points. The leading scorer for ASU at halftime was Mealing with 10.

The scarlet and gray played great defense in the second half and kept the Lady Jags from retaking the lead. NC maintained the single-digit lead for almost ten minutes into the period until an 8-0 run put them up by 17 points. The Lady Jags were held to three points in the final five minutes as the scarlet and gray won by 21 points.

McKinney was on fire in the second half and scored 17 of her 25 points in the period. She also pulled down nine boards in the final period. After a two-point first half, The Lady Jaguars' White played hard in the final half with a team high 10 points.

The victory puts the Newberry College women's basketball team at 5-2 overall. They will begin conference play this Saturday, December 6 at home against No. 16 Wingate at 2 p.m. It will be the first game of a doubleheader as the men's team will tipoff against Wingate at 4 p.m. Augusta State (1-3) will travel across town to play Paine this Saturday at 5:30 p.m.