SALISBURY, N.C. - The Newberry College women's basketball team earned its seventh road loss of the season Wednesday night by losing to the Catawba Catawba Indians, 71-54.

Although the team lost, Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) played one of the best games of her career by posting a career high 22 points. She shot 9-for-12 from the field and pulled down a game high 10 rebounds. Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) also played well and earned 14 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.

Brook Whitley (New London, N.C.) was a big reason for the Catawba win as she led her team in points with 22 on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor. The leading rebounder for the Catawba Indians was Dana Hicks (York, S.C.) with six boards.

Anita Bulcher scored the first bucket of the first half but Catawba answered back with a 10-0 run to grab the early advantage. The scarlet and gray brought the deficit down to four points but the Catawba Indians would hold on and improve their lead to as much as 12 points. Newberry trailed at the half, 30-22.

Newberry held the opposition to 39.3% shooting from the field but could not capitalize on offense. NC shot a mere 32% from the floor and went 0-for-8 from three-point range. The scarlet and gray, third in the country in rebounding margin, were outrebounded by the Catawba Indians, 20-18.

Despite the deficit, Bulcher helped keep the score from getting out of control by posting team highs in both points (9) and rebounds (5). She shot 4-for-5 from the floor and earned the team's only steal in the first half. The leading scorer for the Catawba Indians was Brittany Higgens (Takoma Park, Md.) with 10 points before the break.

The scarlet and gray seemed to find a rhythm and brought the deficit down to five points at the start of the second half. Unfortunately, Catawba kicked it up a notch offensively and eventually put the game out of reach. Catawba shot 15-for-27 from the field and 6-for-11 from downtown in the final half. Despite holding the home team to zero points in the final four minutes, Newberry earned a 17 point loss.

It was a rough shooting night for the scarlet and gray as they struggled from both three-point range and at the foul line. On the night they shot 1-for14 from beyond the arc and only made 61% of their free throw attempts. On a positive note, they outrebounded the opposition, 38-27.

The loss puts the Newberry College women's basketball team at 14-9 overall and 7-5 in the SAC. NC will return home next Wednesday, February 18 to take on No. 15 Tusculum at 6 p.m. Up next for Catawba (13-9, 5-6 in the SAC) will be a road game against Mars Hill this Saturday at 2 p.m.