BREVARD, N.C. - The Newberry College women's basketball team took care of business on the road Wednesday night by defeating the Brevard Tornados, 74-61.
Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) led the scarlet and gray to victory with a game high 21 points, six rebounds, and two steals. Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) had a great night as well, earning a career high 20 points. She shot 8-for-13 from the field and pulled down nine rebounds. Leading Newberry in rebounds was Janine Ward (Tallevast, Fla.) with 11, tying her career high.
Samantha Winn (Candler, N.C.) played fantastic basketball for the Tornados, leading her squad in both points (15) and rebounds (11). Holli Flippo (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) also played well and scored 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from the floor.
Newberry came out and earned an early advantage by going up 15-3 within the first six minutes. Brevard immediately answered back with a 9-0 run which brought them back into the game. With NC leading 22-20, the visiting squad went on a 13-3 run to reestablish the lead. They returned to the locker room at the break leading, 37-24.
Newberry won the first half by playing solid defense and held the Tornados to 8-for-27 shooting from the floor and 3-for-11 shooting from behind the arc. They also dominated the paint, earning 16 points down low to Brevard's eight.
Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) opened up the second half with a three-pointer which put her team up by 16 points, the team's biggest lead of the night. Brevard never threw in the towel and gradually cut down the deficit.
NC's lead was cut to single digits with 13:27 remaining on the clock and Brevard even took a one point lead with eight minutes remaining. Newberry then took back the momentum by going on another 13-3 run. The scarlet and gray played lock-down defense down the stretch, earning the team a 13 point victory.
Newberry played well in the final period but Brevard answered back by shooting 7-for-14 from three-point range. Newberry hung on for the victory by dominating the paint and earning key second chance buckets. 24 of the winning team's 37 second half points came off points in the paint or second chance buckets.
Overall, the scarlet and gray had a solid shooting night which helped them seal their 13th victory. They shot 41% from field goal range, 39% from three-point range, and 81% from the free throw line. They also outrebounded the Tornados by five boards and forced 17 Brevard turnovers.
The win puts the Newberry College women's basketball team at 13-6 overall and 6-2 in the South Atlantic Conference. They will stay on the road this Saturday to take on Carson-Newman at 6 p.m. Next up for Brevard (5-13, 0-8 in the SAC) will be a road game against Mars Hill at 2 p.m.
