WINGATE, NC- The Newberry College women’s basketball team is 3-0 in the SAC after defeating Wingate University 67-50, Tuesday afternoon.

Newberry started the game off hot by going 4-of-4 from the arch. Samantha Creed put Newberry on the board first with a 3-pointer off a pass from Kirsten Dunsmore. Emily Perry made one 3-pointer at the 8:56 mark and another one at the 6:59 mark. In between Perry’s baskets, Nicola Handreck hit one of the four at the 8:17 mark.

Perry scored her eighth point and Dunsmore got her third assist when Perry went up for a layup with 5:40 left in the first quarter. Less than a minute later, Samara Hill increased the lead for Newberry to 16-3 with a jumper.

Handreck scored five points in less than a minute with a layup at the 3:14 mark and a 3-pointer at the 2:36 mark. Jaya Schultz finished the quarter for the Wolves with a jumper with just 20 seconds left.

Going into the second quarter, Newberry had a 25-9 lead. Handreck led the team in points with nine followed by Perry with eight.

Creed started the second quarter for Newberry with a 3-pointer at the 8:15 mark. Two minutes later Brandi Hall hit a jumper to give Newberry a 30-12 lead. Creed had back-to-back layups with one at the 5:01 mark and the second one at the 4:40 mark. Shelby Britten drained a shot from the arch with 3:34 left until halftime followed by a 3-pointer from Hill just 20 seconds later.

In the last two minutes of the second quarter, Newberry went 3-for-3 from the arch. Handreck hit the first one and Hill hit the last two in less than a minute.

At halftime, Handreck had 12 points, Hill had 11, and Creed had 10. As a team, the Wolves shot 68.8% going 11-16 from the arch.

The Wolves didn’t score in the third quarter until three minutes in when Handreck made a layup. Schultz hit a jumper off a pass from Dunsmore at the 4:38 mark for a 53-26 lead. Handreck tallied 16 points with 3:11 left in the quarter with a layup. Schultz closed the third quarter with a jumper at the 1:11 mark and a layup in the last eight seconds.

Going into the fourth quarter, Newberry had a 60-33 lead over Wingate. Scoring was quiet for Newberry until Meg Essex hit a jumper at the 8:11 mark. Newberry didn’t scored again for the next five minutes until Dunsmore was fouled going 1-for-1 at the line. Creed was fouled less than a minute after and went 1-for-1 from the line also.

Creed finished the game for Newberry with two free throws in the last eight seconds tallying the 67-50 win.

For the game, Handreck finished with 16 points, three assists and one steal. Creed scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds, had two assists and one steal. Dunsmore led the team in assists with 6, rebounds with 8, and steals with two. 

The Wolves host Anderson on Saturday, Dec. 12 for a 2 p.m. tipoff.