HICKORY, N.C. - The Newberry College women's basketball team fell to Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday afternoon after being outshot and outrebounded by the Bears. With the win, Lenoir-Rhyne (15-6, 8-3 SAC) draws even with Newberry (15-6, 8-3 SAC) atop the South Atlantic Conference standings.

The scarlet and gray fell victim to Lenoir-Rhyne's hot shooting as the Bears shot .456 (26-57) from the floor. Newberry only converted on .321 (18-56) of its field goals.

Newberry was also bested on the rebounding effort for only the fifth time this season. Lenoir-Rhyne pulled down 40 rebounds while Newberry tallied 36. Newberry is 1-4 this season when outrebounded by its opponent.

Both teams looked sluggish in the early going and mustered just eight points between them in the first five minutes of play. The Bears put together a 15-4 run from the 11:33 mark to the 6:45 mark to take a 25-14 lead.

Newberry scored five points in the final two minutes of the half while holding Lenoir-Rhyne scoreless to cut the Bears' halftime lead to 32-28.

The Bears opened the second half with consecutive three-point baskets in the opening minute as they started to stretch their lead.

The Bears subsequently kept Newberry from scoring for 4:48 of clock time in order to build a 20 point lead, their largest in the game midway through the second half.

Newberry then responded with 12 unanswered points to cut the Bears' lead to 60-52 with 5:56 to play. Leanne Watson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) later knocked down a pair of free throws with 3:25 remaining to make the score 62-57, but Newberry would neither get any closer nor score any more points for the remainder of the game.

Lenoir-Rhyne outscored Newberry 7-0 in the remaining 3:25 in order to close out the 69-57 victory.

Anita Bulcher's (Russia, Ohio) 12 points and 10 rebounds were good enough for her fourteenth double-double of the season and fourth consecutively. Bulcher recorded a double-double in six consecutive games earlier this season which tied her for tenth place in the NCAA Division II record book.

Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) paced Newberry's scoring effort with 15 points. McKinney had nine in the second half. Watson ended the day with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Newberry hosts Catawba on Wednesday in another game that will have heavy implications on the top of the SAC standings. The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in Eleazer Arena where Newberry is 10-0 this season and 21-1 under Sean Page.