NEWBERRY - The fourth seeded Newberry College Lady Indians defeated the fifth seeded Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne 85-68 in the first round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament. With the win, Newberry advances to the semifinal of the Food Lion SAC tournament to face top-seeded Tusculum College.
Newberry came out strong and grabbed an early 13-6 lead. The conference's leading scorer, Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, S.C.), led the way in the first half for the Lady Indians with eight points and five rebounds. After Newberry took a seven point lead, Lenoir-Rhyne slowly chipped away at the advantage. The Bears' Jami Safrit converted a free throw for one of her 10 first half points pulling Lenoir-Rhyne within three points at 20-17 and 11:07 on the clock. Newberry answered by scoring the next five points and regaining an eight point lead.
With 5:37 remaining in the first half, Lenoir-Rhyne capped off a 6-1 run with four straight free throws cutting the Newberry lead to 29-28. Over the next three minutes, the Lady Indians would again stretch the lead to seven points at 35-28. However, Frasier's bucket with 2:40 to play was the last points Newberry scored in the opening half. Lenoir-Rhyne scored the final seven points to tie the game at 35-35 going into the locker room.
Newberry's top ranked defense was able to force nine turnovers in the first half including six steals.
Lenoir-Rhyne quickly grabbed their first lead, since leading 2-0, to start the second half. The Bears took a five point lead at 44-39. Newberry would take control of the game once and for all. Frasier started the 16-4 run with a lay-up cutting the deficit to three points. Newberry regained the momentum and never looked back taking a 55-48 lead with just over 12 minutes to play.
The Bears were never able to recover from the run and Newberry continued to extend the lead. The Lady Indians led by at least 11 points for the final seven minutes of the game. Behind the strength of four scorers with 12 or more points on the night, Newberry ultimately claimed the victory at 85-68 advancing to the Food Lion SAC semi-final game.
Tonique Frasier led all scorers with 17 points and added nine rebounds. Janine Ward (Tallevast, Fla.) had a career night with 16 points including going 7-for-8 from the charity stripe. Tacarra Harris (Tupelo, Miss.) recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Leanne Watson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) added 12 points and six rebounds on the night. The Lady Indians had ten players score three or more points in the game, including nine players who recorded a field goal.
Amber Holt led the Bears with 15 points. LaCourtney Rann added 14 points while Jami Safrit contributed 13 points.
Newberry, who is the fourth seed in tournament, faces first seed Tusculum in the semifinal. The Lady Indians have won seven straight Food Lion SAC tournament games and have won the previous two tournament championships. The third seeded Carson-Newman Eagles advanced to face the second seeded Wingate Bulldogs. Newberry is scheduled to tip-off at 3 p.m. The final four of the tournament is played at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, N.C.
