WINGATE, N.C. - The Newberry College women's basketball team dropped its third straight road game Saturday by losing to the Wingate Bulldogs, 83-72.
Despite the loss, Laura Marquardt (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) played a fantastic game, leading her squad in both points (25) and rebounds (9). She shot 7-for-19 from the field and nailed 10 of her 13 free throw attempts. Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) tied Marquardt for the game high in rebounds with nine boards herself. Bulcher also earned 15 points and two blocks.
Anna Atkinson (Marion, N.C.) played an all around great game while leading the Bulldogs in both rebounds (7) and assists (6). She also scored 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field. The leading scorer for Wingate was Kurie Washington (Marion, N.C.) with 19 points.
The home team took the fight right to Newberry in the first half and earned an early advantage. They steadily built their lead with an onslaught of three point plays in the opening minutes. The Bulldogs had a double-digit lead by the ten minute mark and earned a 16 point lead with 3:30 remaining in the half, their largest lead of the game. NC went back to the locker room at the half trailing, 44-30.
The Bulldogs built their lead by shooting lights out in the opening half. They made 48.5% of their field goal attempts and went 5-for-8 from downtown. Newberry shot 1-for-8 from three-point range and only received two points from the bench. The scarlet and gray also struggled to take advantage of second chance opportunities, scoring eight points on 10 offensive boards.
Marquardt had her best half of the day in the first and scored 14 points on 4-for-9 shooting. Brittany West (Valdese, N.C.) caught fire from beyond the arc in the first half, capitalizing on all four of her three-point attempts.
Newberry opened up the final half with a 14-5 run which brought them right back into the game. Despite the scarlet and gray pressure, Wingate answered by pushing their lead back to double digits with just over 12 minutes remaining. Newberry never quit and even brought the score to 69-65 with 5:45 left on the clock. Unfortunately, NC only made three field goals for the remainder of the game which sealed the team's 10th loss of the season.
Newberry came close to coming back from 14 points down by dominating the paint. NC scored 20 points down low to Wingate's eight. Newberry's post players, Bulcher and Sade Coates (Meridian, Miss.), combined for 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the floor in the second half.
Newberry struggled from three-point range Saturday which put the team in a deep hole. They shot 2-for-15 from downtown and allowed the Bulldogs to sink 61.5% from three-point range. Newberry also had 15 turnovers on the day to Wingate's seven. On a positive note, Newberry outrebounded the competition, 44-31.
The loss puts the Newberry College women's basketball team at 15-10 overall and 8-6 in the South Atlantic Conference. They will return home this Wednesday to face Brevard at 6 p.m. Wingate (16-9, 7-7 in the SAC) will stay home to play Lenoir-Rhyne this Wednesday at 6 p.m.
