NEWBERRY- The Newberry College women’s basketball team defeated Lenoir-Rhyne University 75-69 in SAC play, on Wednesday night.

Meg Essex put Newberry on the board with a layup at the 8:50 mark. Essex scored another layup one minute later off a pass from Samara Hill. With seven minutes left in the first quarter Kirsten Dunsmore increased the Wolves’ lead to 6-3 with two made free throws.

Nicola Handreck got on the board with a layup at the 5:42 mark. Shelby Britten scored her first 3-pointer of the game off a pass from Handreck with 4:18 left. Hannah Lepaio got on the board with a layup at the 2:14 mark.

Leaving the first quarter Newberry was up 16-15 against Lenoir-Rhyne. Essex led the team in points with six followed by Handreck and Britten who had three each.

Newberry didn’t score in the second quarter until the 7:54 mark when Britten drained a 3-pointer off a pass from Creed. Britten scored again shortly after with a jumper for a 21-17 lead.

The Wolves were quiet again on offense until Essex made a layup with 3:14 left until halftime. In less than a minute (1:54-1:09) Handreck scored a layup and then a jumper with the assists going to Jaya Schultz and Dunsmore, respectively. Lepaio finished the quarter for Newberry with a layup for a 29-25 lead but Morgan Cooper from Lenoir-Rhyne responded quickly to cut the lead to two points.

At halftime Newberry had a 29-27 lead over the Bears. As a team, the Wolves were shooting 75% from the free throw line compared to Lenoir-Rhyne’s 42.9%. Essex had eight points, five boards and one block. Britten also scored eight points followed by Handreck with seven.

Lenoir-Rhyne went 7-0 in scoring early in the third quarter until Creed hit a layup at the 7:38 mark. Newberry scored 12 points (four 3-pointers) from the 7:00 mark to the 5:04 mark with Creed hitting two of them. Creed started the run off at the 7:00 mark followed by Hill at the 6:23 mark. Creed scored the third 3-pointer off a fast break with 5:53 left. Handreck drained the fourth 3-pointer of the run off a pass from Hill at 5:04.

Schultz scored the last basket for Newberry in the third quarter with a layup at the 2:21 mark.

Going into the final quarter, Newberry had a six point lead over the Bears (50-44). Handreck took the lead in points with 13 followed by Creed who had 10.

Newberry was heavy on the offensive side in the final quarter scoring 25 points, with 12 of them from Essex.

Essex made a layup at the 8:41 mark followed by another layup from Handreck at the 8:02 mark. Essex hit back-to-back layups at the 7:42 mark to make Newberry’s lead 58-54. Lepaio went two-for-two at the line with 6:23 left in the game. Dunsmore hit a jumper off a pass from Handreck at the 5:41 mark.

Essex gave Newberry a nine point lead (69-60) from a jumper with 3:05 left. With 16 seconds left, Creed went two-for-two at the line after being fouled by Justyce Swango. Dunsmore closed the game for Newberry with a made free throw for the 75-69 win.

For the game, Essex finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Handreck finished with 17 points and six assists followed by Creed with 13 points and five assists. The team shot 78.9% from the foul line and 46.6% from the field.

The Wolves are on the road against Tusculum on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 2 p.m.