HARROGATE, Tenn.- A 25-point game from Nicola Handreck helped the Newberry College women’s basketball team defeat Lincoln Memorial 80-71, on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Newberry improves to 13-11 overall and 12-6 in the South Atlantic Conference while Lincoln Memorial improves to 14-8 overall and 11-8 in the SAC.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

- At the half, Samantha Creed led the team in points with nine followed by Hannah Lepaio with seven. Kirsten Dunsmore led the team in rebounds with six while Samara Hill led the team in steals with one.

- For the game, Handreck finished with 25 points, five rebounds and two assists. Meg Essex and Dunsmore led the team in rebounds with seven each. Essex also scored 17 points followed by Emily Perry who scored 13.

- The team shot 83.8% from the line and shot 32.8% from the field.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter
Handreck got the Wolves on the board with a jumper in the paint at 8:23 to the Railsplitter’s lead to 4-2. Lepaio then made a layup at 6:13 before she made another layup at the 5:07 mark.

Creed got on the board with a jumper with 4:46 left followed by two free throws from Essex to make the score 10-14. Creed cut Lincoln Memorial’s lead to 14-13 with a 3-pointer with 2:40 left.

In the last minute the Wolves scored seven points with Handreck scoring three. Perry went 2-for-2 at the line followed by Brandi Hall who scored a jumper in the paint with 29 seconds. At the buzzer Handreck made a layup and a free throw after she was fouled by Kiara Rawls. Going into the second quarter the Wolves were up 22-21.

Second Quarter
The Wolves scored just eight points with the first point coming from a free throw from Essex at 6:07. Creed made the score 25-25 with two made free throws at 3:15 followed by a free throw from Lepaio at 2:32. With 1:55 left in the quarter Lepaio went 2-for-2 at the line before Colleen Leung made a jumper in the paint with 49 seconds left.

Third Quarter
Going into the third quarter, the Wolves were up 30-28. Handreck drained a 3-pointer off a pass from Creed in the first minute of play. Handreck then made two free throws at 6:43 to make the score 36-30.

With 3:49 left until the final quarter Essex hit a jumper in the paint to close out the quarter.

Fourth Quarter
Perry got the Wolves on the board first with a 3-pointer at 9:29. Handreck made a fast break layup at 8:49 followed by a free throw to cut the Railsplitters’ lead to 49-45. Handreck got back on the board at 4:49 with a jumper in the paint before Perry made two free throws at 4:28.

With 2:14 left in the fourth quarter Essex made a jumper in the paint followed by a free throw to tie the game 62-62. With 45 seconds left in the regular play Essex tied the game at 66-66 with two made free throws to send the teams into overtime.

Overtime
The Wolves took a 71-69 lead with 2:42 left in overtime off a 3-pointer from Essex. Newberry kept the lead for the rest of the period for the 80-71 win. With 1:20 left Essex made a jumper followed a free throw after being fouled by Megan Pittman.

With 49 seconds left Handreck made two free throws after Karsen Sims fouled her. Leung made the final shot for Newberry with one free throw with 19 seconds left.

UP NEXT
The Wolves are on the road against Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday, February 17 at 6 p.m.