NEWBERRY - A double-double off the bench by sophomore Haylee Lepaio helped push the No. 4-seed Newberry women's basketball team to a 69-58 victory over the No. 5-seed Carson-Newman in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Championship.
Carson-Newman (15-11) opened the scoring on an early layup by Courdne Miles, before the Wolves jumped out to a 6-2 lead over the next three minutes. Carson-Newman answered back, before Lepaio (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) hit a jumper and soon watched junior Tasia Holdorf (Anchorage, Alaska) hit a 3-pointer to put the Wolves up by seven.
Newberry saw its lead grow as Lepaio converted a layup on the Wolves' next possession, which was followed by a jumper from junior Ellie Gleeson (Albury, New South Wales, Australia) to put Newberry ahead by 11 points.
Newberry's lead shrank on multiple occasions, before it grew once again when a jumper from junior Devanee Taylor (Chester, Va.) resulted in a 12 point advantage for Newberry with 5:49 remaining in the half. Carson-Newman answered Taylor's jumper with a 15-2 run to head to halftime with a 27-25 lead over the Wolves.
The Wolves quickly responded to the Lady Eagles as the second half began, as Creed scored four straight points. Lepaio continued the Wolves' run and was soon joined by senior Kendra Brown as the Newberry lead reached seven points with 17:31 remaining.
Newbrerry held its lead the remainder of the evening seeing its lead reach as many as 13 points with 21 seconds remaining, before a late layup by Carson-Newman's Haley Coffelt wrapped up the game with a 69-58 Newberry victory.
Sophomore Samantha Creed (Montmorency, Victoria, Australia) led Newberry with 17 points, while Lepaio notched a 16 point performance. Lepaio's 13 rebounds led all players, and secured the post player her 10th double-double of the season. The 16-point performance by Lepaio puts her in a tie with former Newberry player Helen McKinney for 10th most points in a single season at Newberry.Brown led Newberry with six assists and three steals.
The Wolves continue their run in the SAC tournament on Saturday at noon when Newberry travels to Timmons Arena in Greenville for a meeting with No. 1-seed Anderson.
