NEWBERRY - The Newberry College women's basketball team had nationally ranked No. 4 Lander University on the ropes but couldn't land the knock-out punch in the second half as the Bearcats walked away with a 67-51 win.

The loss also snaps an 18-game home court win streak for Newberry (1-1) that dates back to the 2009-10 season and is just the second loss ever for Wolves head coach Sean Page at Eleazer Arena.

The Wolves eased their way to a 9-0 lead within the first five minutes of the game and were up by as many as 15 points with just seven minutes remaining in the first half. But a Lander (4-0) 12 point run in the final five minutes of the period cut the lead to just 8 heading into the locker room.

The Bearcats then chipped away at the Newberry lead with Shannon McKever (Florence, S.C.) putting in a layup and cutting the Wolves margin to just three with 14:36 remaining and down to one with another McKever basket at the 13:11 mark.

A Leanne Watson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) free throw put Newberry back up by two but it was short lived as McKever put in back-to-back layups once again to give Lander the lead for good with just over 11 minutes remaining.

“Despite the final score we did see a lot of positives today,” said Page. “We played an excellent first half but our lack of experience definitely showed in the second. You could see their championship caliber mentality kick in and say they weren't going to quit and that's something we can learn from.”

Newberry went 11-for-32 from the field shooting in the first half and 8-for-40 in the second. The Wolves ended the game with a 19-for-72 mark, 2-for-11 from beyond the arc, and 11-for-17 from the charity stripe. The Wolves did manage to outrebound the Bearcats 51 to 43.

“Our five starters, were 14-of-61 shooting and you're not going to beat anyone when you have numbers like those from your starters,” said Page. “But overall I think you have to give credit to them. They're a great team and I think we proved that we can play with anybody in the country.”

McKever led all scorers with her 23 points, coming down with 13 rebounds, 12 of which were defensively, and was just one blocked shot short of a triple-double with nine.

Watson picked up her first double-double of the year with 14 points and 13 rebounds while teammate Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) led the Wolves with 15 points and was 2-for-10 from the three-point line.

Newberry kicks off South Atlantic Conference play this Tuesday, Nov. 23, as the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears come to town for a 6 p.m. matchup.