NEWBERRY- The Newberry Wolves women’s basketball team defeated the Pioneers of Tusculum 67-55, on Saturday afternoon as part of their Play 4Kay game. After the game, Newberry honored four outstanding seniors: Samantha Creed, Kirsten Dunsmore, Emily Perry, and Colleen Leung.

With the win, Newberry jumps to 14-12 overall and 13-7 in the South Atlantic Conference. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- At the half, Newberry was shooting 43.3% from the field and 26.7% from the arch. Meg Essex and Nicola Handreck both led the team with eight points each.
- For the game, Handreck finished with 19 points followed by Essex who scored 16 points. Essex also grabbed eight boards and blocked one shot. Creed led the team in assists with six followed by Leung who dished four.
- Dunsmore finished with four rebounds, four points, one block, one steal, and one assist.
- As a team, Newberry shot 71.4% from the free throw line and 42.4% from the field.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter
Newberry got on the board at the 7:54 mark when Essex made a jumper in the paint off a pass from Creed. Dunsmore then tied the game at 4-4 with a jumper at 6:40 followed by a jumper from Handreck at 5:52.

Essex had back-to-back jumpers starting at the 4:24 mark off a pass from Creed. Essex scored the second jumper at 3:39 off a pass from Jaya Schultz. Perry got on the board with a 3-pointer at the 2:11 mark off a pass from Samara Hill. Hannah Lepaio ended the quarter for the Wolves with a jumper for a 15-12 lead.

Second Quarter
The Wolves scored the first basket of the game with a layup from Shelby Britten in the first minute of the quarter.  Newberry was quiet for the next two minutes until the 7:02 mark when Handreck drained a 3-pointer.

Hill gave the Wolves a 22-20 lead with a layup at the 4:14 mark before Perry bumped it to 28-20 off a 3-pointer with 3:21 left. Essex scored the Wolves’ last basket of the quarter with a jumper in the paint off a pass from Schultz.

Third Quarter
Going into the third quarter the Wolves had a 30-20 lead over Tusculum. Creed started the quarter off with a jumper in the paint just 14 seconds in.

Leung went 2-for-2 at the line after she was fouled by Sydney Wilson with 7:44 left. Dunsmore pushed the lead to 38-24 with a jumper off a pass from Creed with 7:09 left until the final quarter.

With 4:19 left Handreck hit a jumper off a pass from Britten to make the score 40-30. Britten got on the board with a jumper at 3:51 which was the Wolves‘ last basket of the quarter.

Fourth Quarter
Essex started the fourth quarter off for Newberry with a jump shot off a pass from Leung. Handreck drained a 3-pointer with 6:40 left to make the score 52-40.

With 3:20 left, Essex made another jump shot for a 57-44 lead. The last eight points for Newberry were scored off free throws. With 1:57 left, Leung hit both free throws before she made two more at 1:14. Creed then went 2-for-2 at the line with 33 seconds left followed by Perry who also went 2-for-2 with 17 seconds left, tallying a 67-55 win.

UP NEXT
The Wolves host their regular season home game on Wednesday, February 24 against Coker at 6 p.m.