NEWBERRY - After, by her standards, being quieted by opponents the past few games Newberry sophomore Haylee Lepaio bounced back with a 27 point and 11 rebound performance for her ninth double-double of the season as the Wolves toppled the Anderson Trojans 65-50 on Wednesday evening.
Anderson (15-6, 9-2 SAC) jumped out early on the Wolves (16-5, 8-3 SAC) by taking a quick 6-0 lead on 3-point makes by Alissa Diaz and Lesley Woods. The 6-0 run by the Trojans drew a response from Newberry within the next few minutes as the Wolves pushed forward and outscored Anderson 11-3 over the next five minutes to take an 11-9 lead.
The two teams traded baskets over the next couple of possessions, before Anderson's Tilde Ahlin hit a jumper to put Anderson ahead by two. Ahlin's make netted Anderson its last lead of the evening as Newberry not only regained the lead, but never surrendered it. Newberry earned a one-point lead as junior Tasia Holdorf (Anchorage, Alaska) hit a three with 9:39 remaining in the first half. Newberry held onto its lead for the next 29 minutes of basketball.
Newberry extended its first half lead to double digits on three occasions, the last of which came on a five-point run which saw points scored by senior Kendra Brown (Swansea, S.C.) and sophomores Samantha Creed (Montmorency, Victoria, Australia) and Zara Pearson (Echuca, Victoria, Australia).
The late five-point run in the first half, allowed the Wolves to head to the locker room at half with a comfortable 11-point lead.
The lead got even more comfortable as the first half opened, when back-to-back layups by Creed and Lepaio (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) pushed the Wolves to a 15-point advantage. Anderson answered cutting the Newberry lead to nine, before another Newberry run resulted in a 16-point lead after a pair of made free throws by junior Ellie Gleeson (Albury, New South Wales, Australia).
Anderson was never able to bring the Newberry lead below 10 points, as Newberry walked out of Eleazer Arena with a 15-point victory after a late layup from Lepaio.
Lepaio led all players with 27 points and 11 assists, while also adding two assists, a blocked shot and a steal to her stat line. Creed tallied 14 points and five rebounds. Pearson posted a nine-point performance with five assists and three steals. Gleeson and Brown both recorded four assists, while Brown added six points and four steals.
Newberry hits the road on Saturday for a 6 p.m. game in Harrogate, Tenn. against the Lincoln Memorial Lady Railsplitters.
