CHARLOTTE - A 13-0 run in the final seven minutes of the second period helped the Newberry women's basketball team fight off the Queens Royals on Thursday as the Wolves topped Queens 57-42 on the back of a trio of double-digit performances from the Newberry roster.

Newberry (11-6, 7-6 SAC) kicked off the scoring a little under two minutes into the game as senior Tasia Holdorf (Anchorage, Alaska) laid in the opening basket off an assist from fellow senior Ellie Gleeson (Albury, New South Wales, Australia). Newberry continued to score as the Wolves led the Royals (5-12, 4-9 SAC) by as many as nine points in the opening ten minutes of the game.

After a few scoreless minutes, the Wolves lead reached double digits when junior Zara Pearson (Echuca, Victoria, Australia) netted a 3-pointer to put Newberry up 21-9. Pearson hit again from beyond the arc with her next opportunity to put Newberry up by 15 points.

The Wolves lead reached 16 as junior Haylee Lepaio (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) scored on a layup with 2:59 left in the first half. Holdorf scored on the following possession to give Newberry its largest lead of the game at 18 points. A pair of makes from the free throw line for Queens before the halftime buzzer gave Newberry a 31-15 lead before the break.

Queens came out of the locker room and began to chip away at Newberry's lead, cutting the deficit to two points with 8:48 remaining. The two sides exchanged makes until Newberry regained control of the game over the final seven minutes of regulation.

Lepaio converted a three-point play with a layup and free throw, before Holdorf hit a pair of shots from the charity stripe at 5:31. Lepaio again found three points the hard way, before Holdorf hit a jumper to put Newberry up by 12 with 3:21 to go.

Pearson scored Newberry's final three points from the free throw line to cap a 13-0 run in the final seven minutes of the game to secure a 57-42 win over the Royals.

Lepaio led Newberry with 19 points and nine rebounds in 36 minutes on the floor. Holdorf nearly matched Lepaio's numbers with 17 points and eight boards, along with three assists and a blocked shot.
Pearson tallied 17 points to go with her five rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Kirsten Dunsmore finished the night with a career high seven rebounds.

Gleeson finished the night with four assists, putting her five short of tying former teammate Jessica Bearzatto for fourth most in school history at 302. Pearson's four assists give her 207 in her career and places the junior 22 assists out of the career top 10.

Newberry sees a short turnaround as the Wolves host Anderson on Saturday at 2 p.m. inside of Eleazer Arena.