NEWBERRY - Sophomore Meg Essex registered 23 points in just 21 minutes en route to Newberry's (7-2, 3-2) third conference win of the season, defeating the Mars Hill Lions (2-8, 0-4) by a final of 69-56 at Eleazer Arena on Wednesday evening. The 23-point performance tied her season high, as the Australian native finished 10-of-16 from the floor. 

Essex scored 10 of those 23 points in the third quarter alone, having her teammates to thank for earning easy looks underneath the basket. The team tallied 17 assists on the night, tying the second-most this season, as senior forward Jaya Schultz and junior guard Shelby Britten combined for 13 of those helpers. 

Schultz ended the game with seven assists, four of which went to Essex in a five-minute span in that stellar third quarter. The forward from Santa Clarita, California added seven rebounds to go with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Britten nearly earned the first Newberry double-double of the season, coming down with nine rebounds and notching 12 points. The junior led all players in minutes played with 37.

Junior guard Samara Hill scored 11 points to put four Wolves starters in double figures. Newberry has had at least three starters notch double figures in eight of it nine games this season.

After allowing the Lions to shoot 50 percent from the field in the first half, the Wolves held Mars Hill to just 29.4 percent shooting in the second half, due in part to four blocks from Essex who pushed her season total to 22.

The win ended a two game losing streak for Newberry, who came off South Atlantic Conference losses to Carson-Newman and Anderson. 

"We needed to work on some things, even after a really good start to this season, we got away from ball pressure and got away from good team defense," said Newberry head coach Sean Page. 

Paige Chavis led the Lions with 16 points despite being held to 5-of-15 shooting. The senior was averaging 17.9 points per game entering Wednesday. 

"Overall, we didn't play great tonight. We hit enough threes to help us, but we didn't rebound well and we turned the ball over too much," added Page. "Mars Hill, I think they're going to be good but we're definitely happy with the win, we'll take it. Everyone's healthy, hopefully we can get better in some areas as we get ready for the weekend."

Newberry will travel to Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, Dec. 17. The Railsplitters are off to a 10-0 start this season, which includes a 5-0 conference record. Lincoln Memorial is coming off a 84-83 win vs. Wingate in double overtime. Tip-off this Saturday is slated for 2:00 p.m.