NEWBERRY, S.C. - At the end of the day it all came down to free throws for the Newberry women's basketball team as a pair of made free throws from junior Neicey Lewis earned the Wolves a 63-62 conference victory over the visiting Lenoir-Rhyne Bears.
Newberry (4-2, 1-0 South Atlantic Conference) led early against the visiting Bears taking a 4-0 lead off the opening tip. Lenoir-Rhyne inched back into the game taking over the lead with 15:17 on the clock on an Alexis Katt jumper. Newberry regained the lead after the two teams exchanged missed shots and turnovers at 14:06 on a jumper by Lewis (Riverdale, Ga.).
The Wolves extended their lead to eight points at 9:46 on two made free throws from freshman Halyee Lepaio (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia). The eight-point lead was quickly cut into by the Bears who took the lead for the second time in the game on a layup by Caroline Laughter with 6:21 on the clock. The Bears would run with the lead until 4:08 when the Wolves took a one-point lead on a pair of Lewis free throws.
The one-point lead was the last of the half for Newberry as Whitley Culler gave Lenoir-Rhyne its third lead of the half at 2:30 in the half, which led to a Lenoir-Rhyne 9-4 run into halftime. The Bears carried a 38-34 lead into the second half on the shoulders of a 12 point first half performance by Jazmine Charles.
Newberry went on a 6-0 run to open the second half and take a two-point lead at 17:09 in the second half. The Wolves and Bears exchanged baskets as the two teams played to seven ties in the second half. The sixth tie of the second half came on a made free throw by Lenoir-Rhyne's Danielle Bongiorno. Bongiorno then hit a 3-pointer followed by a layup by Charles to give Lenoir-Rhyne a five-point lead.
The Wolves cut into the Bears lead once again taking the Lenoir-Rhyne lead to as few as one-point before a layup and a jumper gave the Bears another five-point lead. Nursing a three-point lead with 1:19 on the clock Cameron Sealey saw her layup attempt blocked by Lepaio, but a missed layup on the other end of the court gave Lenoir-Rhyne the ball with under a minute in the game and a three-point lead. Bongiorno recovered a defensive rebound on a missed layup by Newberry freshman Zara Pearson (Echuca, Victoria, Australia) and was fouled seconds later by Pearson.
With 49 seconds on the clock Bongiorno missed a pair of free throws the second of which was recovered by Newberry sophomore Ellie Gleeson (Albury, New South Wales, Australia). With a Newberry possession and 34 seconds on the clock a foul by Katt sent Lepaio to the line where she hit a pair of free throws to put the Wolves within one point of the Bears lead.
With five seconds left Lewis stripped Culler of the ball and drove the length of the court. Lewis was fouled by Bongiorno with two seconds on the clock and went to the line to shoot two. Lewis hit her first from the line before Lenoir-Rhyne called a full timeout as the attempted to rattle the transfer from Mercer. Lewis returned to the line after the break and hit her second attempt. A long inbounds pass by Lenoir-Rhyne was stolen by Lepaio to secure the Wolves 63-62 victory.
The Bears entered the meeting with Newberry in the Others Receiving Votes section of the USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll after starting the season 7-1.
Lepaio led all players with 24 points and 10 rebounds. The double-double for Lepaio was her third of the season. Lewis finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and five steals. Lenoir-Rhyne was led by Charles' 14 points and Culler's 10. Sealey finished the afternoon with nine rebounds, while Culler pulled down seven boards of her own.
Newberry continues the 2011-12 slate next Saturday when the Wolves travel to Greeneville, Tenn., to meet the No. 23 Tusculum Pioneers.
