NEWBERRY – The Newberry Wolves women’s basketball team suffered a tough loss at home on Saturday afternoon to the hands of the Carson-Newman Eagles, 53-50.

The Wolves had an 11 point lead with 15:58 remaining in the game but a massive 23-2 run by Carson-Newman that spanned 8 minutes and 39 seconds gave the Eagles a 10 point lead at 47-37 with 6:36 left. The run was coupled with a seven minute scoring drought from the Wolves who fought back valiantly but fell just short.

Senior forward Haylee Lepaio (Bathurst, NSW, Australia) finished with a double-double as she had 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds on 9-18 shooting from the field. Senior guard Zara Pearson (Echuca, Vic, Australia) had 14 points as she joined Lepaio as the only other member of the Wolves to reach double figures.  

Newberry (12-6, 8-4) struggled from 3-point range as they went only 2-17 for the game and they are now 5-35 in their last two contests from deep. Carson-Newman (15-4, 9-3) went 6-16 from deep and shot 20-47 (42.6 percent) from the field to Newberry’s 19-56 (33.9 percent). The game was a matchup of two of the top shooting teams in the South Atlantic Conference.

The Wolves and Eagles were locked in a very defensive minded first half. Both teams shot under 40 percent and combined for 17 turnovers. The Wolves would eventually take a 23-22 lead into the break. The game was tied four times and the lead also changed four times during the half.

After trading a basket each, Newberry went on a 12-2 run to make it 33-24 with 16:19 that was triggered by a pair of Lepaio layups and capped off by two Jaya Schultz (Santa Clarita, Calif.) jumpers. It was at that point the Wolves went cold and Carson-Newman took advantage.

The 21 point swing by Carson-Newman on the long 23-2 run took Newberry’s 11 point lead and turned it into a 10 point deficit and put the pressure on the Wolves with just over six minutes remaining. Their backs against the wall and down 47-37, the Wolves outscored the Eagles 13-3 to make it 51-50 after a pair of clutch Samantha Creed (Montmorency, Vic, Australia)  free throws with 28 seconds left.

The Eagles got the ball back after Tatum Burstrom missed a front end of a one and one and the Wolves took a timeout with 17 seconds left to draw up a play with a chance to win. On the ensuing inbounds play, miscommunication led to Nicola Handreck’s (Heywood, Vic, Australia) pass to miss Lepaio and land in Carson-Newman’s hand.

The Eagles would make two free throws to make it 53-50 with 13 seconds left. Newberry would get one last crack at it to tie the game but Pearson’s three point attempt went long at the buzzer.

The Wolves will host Queens (N.C.) on Wednesday night as they look to rebound from the loss.