NEWBERRY - The Newberry Lady Indians' improbable comeback fell short as they stumble to Catawba College 65-62 in South Atlantic Conference action. Newberry slips to 16-7 and 6-5 in conference play. Catawba improves to 10-12 and 3-7 in the SAC.
Newberry, who is 1-4 in SAC play at home, got off to a sluggish start. With the score tied at 4-4, Catawba went on an 11-1 run to take a 15-5 lead. In that time, Newberry went 0-for-5 from the floor including missing three lay-ups.
Courtesy of a 7-0 run led by senior Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, S.C.), who scored five of those seven points, Newberry tied the score at 19-19 with just over five minutes to play in the half.
Newberry's first half comeback was aided by tough defense which forced nine turnovers. The home side recorded six steals in the opening half.
Led by Laura Marquardt's (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) 10 first half points, the Lady Indians went into the break trailing by only a point at 30-29.
The second half looked very similar to the first half with Newberry starting slow. Newberry's offense scored only two field goals in the first six minutes of the second half. Catawba, who had four players hit double digits, opened a commanding 13 point lead at 46-33. The game seemed destined to be a blowout with Newberry never getting closer than six points.
With 4:35, Catawba's Cameron Clark drained a pair of free throws to give the visitors 58-46 lead.
Newberry's defense stepped up the pressure and force seven turnovers in the final four minutes. Following an Ashley Marine (Peachtree City, Ga.) three-pointer, Frasier scored the next seven points to bring Newberry within five points of Catawba at 61-56.
Newberry forced a back court turnover on Catawba's next two possessions which the Lady Indians converted into four points to cut the lead to one point at 61-60.
Catawba's Hillary Hampton, who was one of three Catawba players with 16 points, hit two free throws to extend the lead back to three points. After a missed three-pointer, Frasier grabbed one her game high 13 rebounds and scored the put back to bring Newberry back within one point.
NeKeithia Howard, who also scored 16 points for the visitors, drained two more free throws to regain a three point lead with just 10 seconds to play.
Newberry got the three point look but were unable to hit the shot. However, Leanne Watson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) brought down the board and dished it out for the possible game tying shot, but the clock ran out on Newberry before the shot was released.
Newberry shot 31.5% on the night led by Tonique Frasier who recorded her 11th double double of the season with a game high 22 points as well as a game high 13 rebounds. Laura Marquardt had a season high 14 points. Janine Ward (Tallevast, Fla.) led Newberry�s defense with four steals in the game.
Catawba shot an impressive 53.2% in the game. Brittany Higgins joined Hampton and Howard with 16 points for Catawba. Christi Bartlett added 10 points for the visitors while grabbing 11 boards.
Newberry, who is 5-1 on the road in conference play, will travel to Greeneville, Tenn. for a showdown with league leaders, Tusculum College. Game time is 6 p.m. for next Wednesday's bout.
