HIGH POINT, N.C. - The Newberry women's basketball team pushed Division I High Point to the edge until early in the second period, when foul trouble led to the Panthers ability to close out a 79-58 victory over the Wolves. Junior Samantha Creed led all scorers with 20 points in the Wolves exhibition loss.

High Point (1-0) opened the scoring before Creed (Montmorency, Victoria, Australia) answered with 19:08 remaining in the first half to give Newberry its first points of the afternoon. A six-point run by the Panthers soon provided High Point with the momentum to extend its lead over the Wolves to 12-4. Creed again was the one that stopped the bleeding for Newberry as she hit a jumper at 13:45 to pull the Wolves within six at 12-6.

Creed did much of the work in the scoring column for Newberry in the opening half as she 18 of Newberry's 34 points in the opening period. It was Creed's junior teammate, also a preseason All-SAC First Team selection, Haylee Lepaio (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) who pulled the Wolves within two with less than five minutes left in the opening period as she hit a layup to bring the score to 25-23 with High Point in the lead.

High Point again countered the Newberry comeback and pushed its lead out to eight points, before back-to-back 3-pointers by juniors Zara Pearson (Echuca, Victoria, Australia) and Kaitlynn Pacholke (Tampa, Fla.) pulled the Wolves back within two points with 2:30 remaining in the first half.

The Wolves and Panthers exchanged points over the final two minutes with High Point's Kaylah Keys hitting a late 3-pointer to give the Panthers a 40-34 lead at halftime.

The second half opened with a 5-2 Newberry run, which was capped off by a layup from Creed that cut the High Point lead to 42-40. It was a foul just outside the 18-minute mark that started to turn things the Panthers way as Lepaio was called for her fourth foul of the day.

With Lepaio relegated to the bench, the Panthers quickly pushed the lead out to four points. Another foul at 15:48 proved crucial for the Wolves as Creed picked up her fourth foul of the day. With Creed and Lepaio now on the bench, High Point took advantage as the Wolves looked to find answers in the absence of its top two scorers.

Creed was called upon to check back into the game with 11:48 on the clock, but by the time the 2012-13 First Team All-SAC selection returned to the court the Panthers had posted a 12-point lead.

Newberry continued to battle its Division I opponent, but were unable to cut the High Point lead down to single digits. With Lepaio back on the floor, Newberry cut the deficit to 16 points on a jumper by senior Tasia Holdorf (Anchorage, Alaska), before the under eight minute media timeout.

Lepaio saw her night end early with just under three minutes remaining in the game, as she was charged with her fifth foul of the day. Trailing by over 20 points, the Wolves soon saw time expire as High Point walked away with a 79-58 victory.

In what counted as a regular season game for the Panthers and an exhibition for the Wolves, Newberry saw Creed and Lepaio each reach double-digit scoring. Creed led all scorers with 20 points, while Lepaio netted 11 before fouling out.

Lepaio was the Wolves' top rebounder with seven boards, followed by senior Devanee Taylor (Chester, Va.) with five. Pearson led Newberry with four assists on the afternoon.

Newberry now turns its attention to the Morris Hornets as the Wolves open up the regular season in Sumter on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. scheduled tip-off.
The Newberry women's basketball team pushed Division I High Point to the edge until early in the second period, when foul trouble led to the Panthers ability to close out a 79-58 victory over the Wolves. Junior Samantha Creed led all scorers with 20 points in the Wolves exhibition loss.

High Point (1-0) opened the scoring before Creed (Montmorency, Victoria, Australia) answered with 19:08 remaining in the first half to give Newberry its first points of the afternoon. A six-point run by the Panthers soon provided High Point with the momentum to extend its lead over the Wolves to 12-4. Creed again was the one that stopped the bleeding for Newberry as she hit a jumper at 13:45 to pull the Wolves within six at 12-6.

Creed did much of the work in the scoring column for Newberry in the opening half as she 18 of Newberry's 34 points in the opening period. It was Creed's junior teammate, also a preseason All-SAC First Team selection, Haylee Lepaio (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) who pulled the Wolves within two with less than five minutes left in the opening period as she hit a layup to bring the score to 25-23 with High Point in the lead.

High Point again countered the Newberry comeback and pushed its lead out to eight points, before back-to-back 3-pointers by juniors Zara Pearson (Echuca, Victoria, Australia) and Kaitlynn Pacholke (Tampa, Fla.) pulled the Wolves back within two points with 2:30 remaining in the first half.

The Wolves and Panthers exchanged points over the final two minutes with High Point's Kaylah Keys hitting a late 3-pointer to give the Panthers a 40-34 lead at halftime.

The second half opened with a 5-2 Newberry run, which was capped off by a layup from Creed that cut the High Point lead to 42-40. It was a foul just outside the 18-minute mark that started to turn things the Panthers way as Lepaio was called for her fourth foul of the day.

With Lepaio relegated to the bench, the Panthers quickly pushed the lead out to four points. Another foul at 15:48 proved crucial for the Wolves as Creed picked up her fourth foul of the day. With Creed and Lepaio now on the bench, High Point took advantage as the Wolves looked to find answers in the absence of its top two scorers.

Creed was called upon to check back into the game with 11:48 on the clock, but by the time the 2012-13 First Team All-SAC selection returned to the court the Panthers had posted a 12-point lead.

Newberry continued to battle its Division I opponent, but were unable to cut the High Point lead down to single digits. With Lepaio back on the floor, Newberry cut the deficit to 16 points on a jumper by senior Tasia Holdorf (Anchorage, Alaska), before the under eight minute media timeout.

Lepaio saw her night end early with just under three minutes remaining in the game, as she was charged with her fifth foul of the day. Trailing by over 20 points, the Wolves soon saw time expire as High Point walked away with a 79-58 victory.

In what counted as a regular season game for the Panthers and an exhibition for the Wolves, Newberry saw Creed and Lepaio each reach double-digit scoring. Creed led all scorers with 20 points, while Lepaio netted 11 before fouling out.

Lepaio was the Wolves' top rebounder with seven boards, followed by senior Devanee Taylor (Chester, Va.) with five. Pearson led Newberry with four assists on the afternoon.

Newberry now turns its attention to the Morris Hornets as the Wolves open up the regular season in Sumter on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. scheduled tip-off.