NEWBERRY- The Newberry Wolves women’s basketball team got back on the track with an 82-72 win over the visiting Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial.

The Wolves (14-8, 10-6) had four players reach double figures for the first time since a Dec. 6 loss at home to Anderson. Haylee Lepaio (Bathurst, NSW, Australia) had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Zara Pearson (Echuca, Vic, Australia) poured in a game-high and season-high 18 points on 6-9 shooting and 3-5 from 3-point range. The other two players to score in double digits were Jaya Shultz (Santa Clarita, Calif.) at 12 points and six rebounds and Samantha Creed (Montmorency, Vic, Australia) who also had 18 points.

Newberry was assertive in the paint as they outrebounded the top team on the glass in the conference 40-35 and outscored them in the block 36-22.

The Railsplitters (12-10, 9-7) got as close as four points, down 65-61, with 3:38 remaining in the contest but the two possession game was as close as they would get. Newberry got back-to-back layups by Lepaio and Creed to push the lead to nine points at 71-62 and the Wolves made enough free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The Scarlet and the Gray got off to a slow start and trailed 22-13 with 12:20 left in the first half but went on a 10-0 run sparked by a pair of Kirsten Dunsmore (Sydney, NSW, Australia) free throws and capped by a Pearson jumper plus a Creed layup to make it 23-22. After trading baskets for a majority of the next six minutes, the Wolves slowly grew their lead to seven points by halftime and took that 42-35 lead into the locker room.

The Wolves took Lincoln Memorial’s nine turnovers and turned them into 15 points during the first frame to help them pull out in front compared to the Railsplitters scoring just two points off seven Newberry turnovers.

The Wolves flirted with a double digit lead for a majority of the second half but a pesky LMU squad, who trailed by as many as 13 points with 12:24 left, would keep the game competitive with short runs and ultimately pulling within four before Newberry closed the game out with their free throws.

Newberry remains tied for third in the South Atlantic Conference standings with the win but after a Carson-Newman loss and the defeat of Lincoln Memorial, the Wolves now hold the tiebreaker over Catawba, who they swept during the regular season.

Newberry will be back in action at home on Wednesday night as they will host a “Blue Out” to raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation, the South Atlantic Conference’s charity of choice, against Lenoir-Rhyne. The men’s and women’s teams will be selling shirts with all of the proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish foundation.