WINGATE, N.C. – A second half surge by the home team ultimately doomed the Newberry College women’s basketball team on Wednesday night in a 67-51 loss at first place Wingate University.

With Newberry (13-8, 9-6) only trailing by four points, Wingate (16-6, 14-1) ultimately pulled ahead on a 21-0 run spanning just over four minutes in the second half. The Bulldogs only led 38-34 with 16:18 to play when the Wolves went cold from the field and the burst made it 59-34 with 11:56 left in the game.

The Wolves, who are now part of a four-way tie for third place in the South Atlantic Conference, were looking to end Wingate’s 11 game winning streak and were only down 31-27 going into halftime.

Senior forward Haylee Lepaio (Bathurst, NSW, Australia) had nine points and seven rebounds on 4-8 shooting from the field. Freshman guard Nicola Handreck (Heywood, Vic, Australia) tied for a team-high 10 points to go along with four rebounds. Colleen Leung (James Island, S.C.) also had 10 points. Junior guard Samantha Creed (Montmorency, Vic, Australia) also had nine points.

The Bulldogs were aided by great shooting, totaling 47.5 percent from the field for the game and 42.9 percent from behind the 3-point line. On the other hand, Newberry shot a solid percentage in the first half at 39.3 but faltered down the stretch only going 8-27 from the field in the second half and finishing at 34.5 percent for the game.

Wingate controlled the paint on the offensive end of the floor outscoring Newberry 20-8 in that category in the second half along and 40-18 for the game. The Bulldogs also held a 21-14 advantage in points off turnovers and 12-3 in fast break points.

Prior to tonight, the Wolves had only lost back-to-back games one time this season, at the Southern Indiana University Thanksgiving Classic, and will look to avoid their first three game losing streak as they host Lincoln Memorial on Saturday. The Wolves lost the first matchup between the two teams 86-76 on the road back on Dec. 15.

LMU is one of the three teams Newberry is tied with for third place along with Carson-Newman and Catawba. The Wolves swept Catawba already this season and have only faced Carson-Newman once, losing a close 53-50 battle at home.

That game will start at 2 p.m. and the Wolves will be back in the friendly confines of Eleazer Arena.