NEWBERRY - The Wolves have faced every South Atlantic Conference foe this season except for Carson-Newman, Queens and Wingate.
Saturday afternoon, the Wolves will cross one of those off their list as the Carson-Newman Eagles come down to Newberry for a big game and a battle for third place in the SAC standings.
Newberry is currently riding a three-game winning streak and have won five of their last six games overall. The Wolves knocked off Coker on Wednesday night 69-63 at home to complete their third full sweep of a South Atlantic Conference opponent this season. Against Coker, Samantha Creed (Montmorency, Vic, Australia) had her third straight 20 point game and her seventh 20-plus point game of the season. She finished with 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Haylee Lepaio (Bathurst, NSW, Australia) also had a season-high 23 points in the win to go along with five rebounds and three blocks. She took over fifth place all-time in rebounds at Newberry. It was also the first time this season Newberry has had two players eclipse the 20 point plateau and the first time the Wolves have won with less than 20 defensive rebounds in a game. Newberry struggled against Coker’s then second ranked defensive unit from deep as the Wolves shot just 3-18 from 3-point range on the night. They did go 21-35 from the field otherwise.
Carson-Newman comes into the game 14-3 overall with an equal 8-3 record to that of Newberry’s in conference play. The Eagles started off the season 11-0 and made their way into the D2SIDA Top 25 but since then have gone just 3-3. They have lost two of their last three with one of the losses against conference leader Wingate. The other two losses were at Brevard and Coker, the two most recent wins the Wolves have picked up.
Carson-Newman arguably comes into the game with the top overall offense in the conference. The Eagles lead the SAC in points scored per game at 73.2 and rank in the top four in field goals made, attempts, percentage, 3-point attempts, free throw percentage and assists. Defensively, they are second in the SAC play alone in steals (10.0), blocks per game (4.2) and fourth in rebounding (41.0 rpg). They give up with fifth most points per game at 62.6.
Carson-Newman is led by Jessica Simerly (11.7 ppg) who leads the SAC in field goal percetange. The Eagles do boast a balanced attack with seven players averaging more than 7.0 ppg. Simerly also leads Carson-Newman in rebounding (6.3 rpg).
The game is set for 2 p.m. and will air on WDKD 1240 AM and can be seen on NewberryWolves.tv as Gary Griffith will have the call for both.
