NEWBERRY - For the second consecutive game, the Newberry College women's basketball team came out of the gates hitting shots, taking care of the ball and playing sound defense.
Unfortunately, its second half woes were replicated as well as the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears outscored the Wolves 41-27 in the final 20 minutes to claim a 70-57 win. The Wolves lost their South Atlantic Conference opener for the first time since 2007, and their record drops to 1-2 while Lenoir-Rhyne continues their strong start and improves to 4-1.
“We are playing like a team of individuals,” said head coach Sean Page. “We're lacking mental toughness, and it's really time for us to take a look in the mirror to see if we can work to overcome this. We took bad shots and missed the good looks and with three games under our belts we can't have that if we want to be successful.”
The Bears put the first points on the board and looked to be in the driver's seat in the opening minutes of the game. Trailing 8-2, Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) drained the first of her four three-pointers on the evening to cut the lead to three.
On the Wolves next possession, Brittany Brown (Fort Myers, Fla.) scored on a jumper to pull the Wolves to within one. A 7-3 Wolves run would give the home team a lead that would be let go only once thanks to a pair of Whitley Culler free throws. McKinney swished a jumper at the 1:00 mark to put the Wolves ahead by one going into the break.
The scarlet and gray came out in the second half to enhance their lead and a McKinney three and a layup from Brown would do just that, giving the Wolves a 35-31 edge. The Bears clawed their way back into the contest and managed to tie matters at 37 thanks to a layup from Whitney Brinkley. Leeara Creet (Brisbane, Australia) would give their Wolves another lead thanks to a jumper on their next possession but unbeknownst to the hosts, that was the final lead they would hold.
Lenoir-Rhyne exploded with a 21-3 run to take command of the game for good. The Wolves were held without a field goal for an eight minute stretch that changed the visage of the game.
The hosts were unable to trim their deficit to single digits and shot a woeful 16.7 percent from the field in the final stanza of a game that they had once controlled.
McKinney poured in 26 points to pace the Wolves. Rebecca Matijevic (Gold Coast, Australia) was the second leading scorer, chipping in seven points for Newberry.
Brinkley was one of four Bears in double-digits and led their squad with 20 points. Cameron Sealey contributed a double-double consisting of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Culler and Alexis Katt each had 12 for the visitors.
Newberry will look to bounce back as it travels to Misenheimer, N.C. to take on the Pfeiffer Falcons on Saturday (Nov. 27). The game is scheduled to tip-off at 4 p.m.
