GAFFNEY – The Newberry College women’s basketball team wrapped up their season with a loss to Anderson University in the first round of the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Tournament, 69-57 on Friday afternoon.

No. 6 seed Newberry (21-11) rallied from a steep deficit in the first half as they were down by as many as 20 points. The Scarlet and the Grey got within six points, down just 54-49 late in the second half, but could never get over the hump as Anderson pulled away late.

The Wolves were led by junior Samantha Creed (Montmorency, Vic, Australia) who had 17 points and four rebounds before leaving the game with an injury halfway through the second period. Haylee Lepaio (Bathurst, NSW, Australia) also had 14 points to go along with seven rebounds.

The teams, meeting for the fourth time this season, were playing in a rematch of the South Atlantic Conference Championship game that was played on Sunday. It left the teams with just five days between the rematch.

Anderson (26-4), the No. 3 seed, was able to win the game thanks to their offensive rebounding prowess. The Trojans outrebounded Newberry on the offensive end 19-6 and outscored Newberry 25-2 in second chance points. Anderson as a whole took 31 more shots than Newberry. The Wolves turned the ball over 19 times while Anderson only turned it over nine times.

Newberry went down early by a score of 15-2 just 4:32 into the contest. The Wolves woke up briefly to pull within 19-15 getting help from a 13-4 run that started with a Colleen Leung (James Island, S.C.) jump shot.

Newberry then went cold from the floor and didn’t make a field goal for the remaining 8:42 of the first half. Anderson outscored the Wolves 17-4 during that span to take the teams into the locker room with a 36-18 lead.

The second half saw things turn around for Newberry as they slowly chipped into Anderson’s lead as the half progressed. Newberry still didn’t hit a field goal until there was 17:17 left in the game to cap off a 10-plus minute drought. The Wolves were able to stay afloat by getting to the free throw line and went 26-for-31 for the day.

An 18-8 surge that spanned the first seven minutes of second stanza brought Newberry to just a 46-36 deficit. The Trojans were able to respond with a Sierra Simpson layup off an offensive rebound. The teams then traded baskets from the next few possessions until there was an injury stoppage in the game.

When play resumed, the Wolves cut their deficit to just 54-49 with 5:40 remaining on a Leung jumper. Heather Jankowy then hit a 3-pointer from the wing as the Trojans tried to fight off Newberry’s last efforts.

Lepaio hit a layup to make it 61-55 with 3:20 left but that would be as close as the Wolves would get the rest of the way. The Trojans went on a late 6-0 run to seal the victory.

The loss wrapped up one of the most successful seasons in Newberry history was only the fifth-ever appearance for the Wolves in the NCAA Tournament and the second time under head coach Sean Page.