NEWBERRY - The Newberry College women's basketball team returned to its winning ways Saturday afternoon by defeating the Carson-Newman Eagles, 69-61. They are now 5-0 at home this season.
Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) led the way for the scarlet and gray with a team high 19 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field and 3-for-7 shooting from three-point range. She also chipped in eight boards and two assists. Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) also played well but fell a rebound short of a double-double with a game high nine rebounds and 15 points. Janine Ward (Tallevast, Fla.) led her team in assists with five and also grabbed seven rebounds.
The leading scorer for the Eagles was Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) with 17 points. She shot an efficient 7-for-10 from the floor and earned a whopping six steals. Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) played solid basketball, earning nine points and four rebounds.
Carson-Newman struck first Saturday and came out to an early 15-10 lead in the first eight minutes of the game. Newberry answered back to tie the score at 20 all, just before a 14-2 run gave the scarlet and gray their first double-digit lead of the game. NC maintained its lead throughout the first half and went into the locker room leading, 34-28.
Carson-Newman shot the ball better than Newberry in the first half (54.5% to 43.8%) but the scarlet and gray won the turnover battle 10-14. NC took advantage of their opponent's mistakes and earned 13 points off turnovers. McKinney was on top of her game in the opening period, earning 10 of her 19 points. Buford also started the game off well with all nine of her points coming in the first half.
The scarlet and gray carried their momentum into the second half and earned a 17 point lead with 13 minutes remaining. It would be their biggest lead of the game as Carson-Newman played hard down the stretch. The Eagles made the game interesting by cutting Newberry's lead to five with less than a minute remaining, but the home team was able to hang on for the eight point victory.
Carson-Newman shot well in the first half but could not maintain their high percentage, nailing only 9-of-26 field goal attempts in the second half. NC maintained its shooting pace, shooting 44% for the field in the second half. Newberry also dominated Carson-Newman down low with 18 points in the paint, 12 more than the Eagles.
Laura Marquardt (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) played well in the second half with eight points and five rebounds. Tykira McDaniel (Griffin, Ga.) stepped her game up in the final period by scoring seven points, her total for the day.
Newberry shot poorly from downtown on their recent road trip but returned to form on Saturday. They sank seven three-pointers for the day on 53.8% from beyond the arc. The team also stepped up their hustle by pulling down 17 offensive rebounds. The Eagles only managed to pull down four offensive boards and earned zero second chance points.
With the win, the Newberry College women's basketball team improves to 9-4 overall and 2-0 in the South Atlantic Conference. They will hit the road once again on Wednesday to take on Mars Hill at 6 p.m. They will return home on January 14 in a game against Lincoln Memorial at 6 p.m. Carson-Newman (9-3, 1-1 in the SAC) will also hit the road Wednesday to play UNC Asheville at 7 p.m.
