NEWBERRY - After not playing a South Atlantic Conference game since Dec. 16 against Lincoln Memorial, the Wolves are back at home to take on the Tusculum Pioneers on Saturday.
Newberry is coming off of a 72-40 victory over SIAC opponent Benedict College. It was Newberry’s first game since Dec. 16th, which was their last South Atlantic Conference game and an 86-76 loss at Lincoln Memorial.
Junior guard Emily Perry (Nambour, Qld, Australia) set two career-highs as she led the Wolves with 23 points and four assists in the victory. Her previous career-high was 18 points against Catawba earlier this season. In the game, Newberry also had the highest amount of fast break points, bench points and points off of turnovers in the game.
The Wolves also had their best defensive performance of the season as Benedict shot 17.2 percent from the field an 0.0 percent from behind the arc
Overall, Newberry leads the SAC in fewest points allowed per game at 59.8 points and 35.1 percent from the field.
Offensively, they lead the league in 3-point percenage and in 3-pointers made per game. Samantha Creed (Montmorency, Vic, Australia) is Newberry’s leading scorer and is second in the conference at 18.4 ppg. Senior forward Haylee Lepaio (Bathurst, NSW, Australia) is fourth in the conference in rebounding at 9.5 rpg.
For Tusculum, they are 2-6 overall on the season and 2-3 in SAC play. They lead the conference in points per game averaging 76.6 points in conference and 73.9 overall. They are second in field goals made and field goal percentage while also forcing a lot of turnovers on the defensive end as they lead the SAC in steals at 9.8. Preaseason first team all-SAC selection Kristen McMillon is also one to watch with her matchup against Lepaio. She averages 8.8 ppg to go along with 9.4 rpg
Newberry on the other hand leads the league in turnovers and just committed a season-high 32 in the win over Benedict. Tusculum is led by three players who average double figures. Freshman Rainy Story is scoring at 14.4 ppg while Maelyn Cutshaw and Shynese Whitener both average more than 12.9 ppg.
The game will start at 2 p.m. in Eleazer Arena.
