NEWBERRY - Taking sole possession of third place in the South Atlantic Conference standings, the Newberry Wolves women's basketball team knocked off the Tusculum Pioneers on the road on Saturday afternoon, 78-66.

The Wolves completed their fourth conference sweep of the season with the victory and, coupled with a loss by Catawba, allowed Newberry to take sole possession of third place where they are now a game up on the Indians. Newberry was led by Samantha Creed (Montmorency, Vic, Australia) who had 19 points and tied a career-high with nine assists and only two turnovers. There were four players in total who reached double-figure scoring for the Wolves in the victory.

Senior forward Haylee Lepaio (Bathurst, NSW, Australia) had 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Nicola Handreck (Heywood, Vic, Australia) had 13 points and three boards while sophomore forward Jaya Schultz (Santa Clarita, Calif.) had 11 points and six rebounds.

Down 5-2 out of the gate, the Wolves went on a 15-2 run that spanned a little more than four minutes of play that gave them a 17-7 lead. They would hold the lead for the rest of the game. The run started on a Schultz jumper and was capped off by a pair of layups by Lepaio. The Wolves retained at least a double-digit lead til the end of the half and went into the locker room up 36-23. 

Newberry shot 42.3 percent from the field in the half and had 11 assists to only six turnovers. The Wolves also outrebounded the Pioneers at the break 24-13 with 10 of the rebounds coming on the offensive glass. That led to an 8-0 advantage in second chance points and a 20-6 advantage in points in the paint. 

In the second half, Tusculum would hang within 15 points until finally making a late run at the Wolves. Newberry was leading 69-57 with 3:15 remaining when the Pioneers went on a quick 6-0 run and cut Newberry's lead to 69-63 with 2:10 left.

With a chance to cut it to one possession, Blakeley Burleson missed a 3-pointer that was brought down by Lepaio and on the other end Schultz fed Lepaio for a layup to put the game back in Newberry's control.

The Wolves would go on to make the crucial free throws down the stretch to seal it, going a combined 6-6 from the charity stripe in the last 1:01. Creed made four free throws while Handreck made two.

Newberry will be on the road on Wednesday again as they will play at Queens (N.C.).