NEWBERRY - The Newberry College women's basketball team earned its 10th home victory of the season by defeating the Brevard Tornados Wednesday night, 77-46.
Academic All-American Laura Marquardt (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) drained six three-pointers on her way to a game high 24 points. This is her third game of the season with six three-pointers made or more, another school record for the sharpshooter. Marquardt now has a Newberry record 69 three-pointers made this season.
Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) earned her seventh double-double of the season with a game high 10 rebounds and 16 points. Newberry's premier center shot 8-for-10 from the field. Monica Alexander (Norcross, Ga.) earned team high's in both assists (5) and steals (6). She was also one board shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine boards.
The leading scorer for the Tornados was Holli Flippo (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) with 16 points and five boards. Samantha Winn (Candler, N.C.) tied Flippo for the team high in rebounds and also dropped nine points.
Brevard came into the game without a SAC win this year and took the fight right to the home squad. The Tornados went up 19-9 within the first six minutes, but Newberry would immediately answer back. The scarlet and gray took a two point lead late in the first half with a 15-3 run. Newberry would outscore Brevard 14-6 for the remainder of the period to take the halftime advantage, 38-28.
Newberry fell behind early but played smart basketball to earn the halftime lead. They shot 55% from the field in the opening half and only earned seven turnovers. The scarlet and gray dominated the paint with 16 points in the post, six more than Brevard had all game.
Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) had her best half of the night in the first, earning nine points and four boards. McKinney would finish the game with 15 points, eight rebounds, and two assists. Flippo also had her best half of the night with a team high 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field.
Brevard's Anna Schlobohm (Greensboro, N.C.) brought her team's deficit to eight points in the opening seconds of the final half, but it would prove to be the closest the road team would get to making a come back. The scarlet and gray earned their first 20 point lead of the game at the 11 minute mark and would eventually outscore the Tornados in the second period, 39-18.
Newberry completely shut down Brevard in the second half and held the opposition to 21% shooting from the field. They forced 12 Brevard turnovers and held the Tornados to 1-for-8 from three-point range in the period. The scarlet and gray also earned 11 second chance points off 11 offensive boards. Marquardt caught fire in the second half with a team high 16 points.
Newberry followed its weekend loss with a strong effort on offense. The team shot 49% from the floor and had four players in double figures. They are now 9-0 when four players score 10 or more points. Newberry, third in the nation in rebounding margin, out rebounded Brevard, 47-25.
The Newberry College women's basketball team now stands at 16-10 overall and 9-6 in the SAC. NC will play its final game of the regular season on the road Saturday against Lincoln Memorial at 6 pm. Brevard (6-20, 0-15 in the SAC) will also hit the road Saturday to play Catawba at 2 pm.
