NEWBERRY- The Newberry College women’s basketball team will now advance to the Semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament after defeating Carson-Newman 85-74, on Wednesday night.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- At the half, Nicola Handreck led the team with 12 points followed by Shelby Britten and Samara Hill who scored nine each. Meg Essex led the team in blocks with three while Samantha Creed led the team in steals with two.

- Handreck finished the game with 23 points, five rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Hill finished with 14 points followed by Britten and Jaya Schultz who both scored 12 points each.

- Essex led the team in rebounds and blocks with seven each while Schultz led the team in steals with three.

- For the game, the Wolves shot 75.7% from the line and 50% from the arch.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter
Handreck put the Wolves on the board first with a layup just 12 seconds into the game. Handreck extended the Wolves’ lead to 8-4 with a 3-pointer off a pass from Hill at the 3:42 mark. Hill got on the board with 2:50 left in the quarter with a 3-pointer off a pass from Handreck.

With 2:17 left Hannah Lepaio made the score 13-6 with a layup before Schultz increased the score to 15-10 with a jumper at 1:07. Handreck finished the quarter with a free throw at the 57 second mark and a jumper with 14 seconds left.

Second Quarter
Newberry had a 21-13 lead going into the second quarter. Britten started the scoring off with a layup at the 9:05 mark. Britten hit another layup at the eight minute mark with layup off a pass from Colleen Leung. Leung then got on the board with a jumper off a pass from Handreck just 10 seconds later.

With 5:40 left until halftime Hill drained a 3-pointer off a pass from Handreck to make the score 30-22 in Newberry’s favor. Hill hit another 3-pointer at the 5:03 mark off another pass from Handreck. Kirsten Dunsmore got on the board when she went 1-for-2 at the line after being fouled by Tatum Burstrom.  Handreck hit the last basket for Newberry with a 3-pointer just seven seconds until the buzzer.

Third Quarter
Going into the third quarter Newberry led 41-35. Newberry dropped 20 points on the Eagles in the third quarter with Essex scoring six. Handreck hit a layup less than a minute in followed by Essex who also hit a layup at 8:48. With 7:07 left Leung hit a jumper off a pass from Creed before Essex made a layup at 6:40.

Essex hit another jumper to make the score 51-43 with 5:48 left. Handreck drained a 3-pointer with 4:52 left followed by a 3-pointer hit by Creed with four minutes left. At the 2:25 mark Hill made the score 59-45 with a layup off a pass from Handreck. Lepaio scored the last basket of the quarter for Newberry with a layup for a 61-48 lead going into the final quarter of play.

Fourth Quarter
Schultz went 2-for-2 at the line at 8:52 to start the final quarter for Newberry. Handreck drained yet another 3-pointer with 7:42 left to extend the Wolves’ lead to 66-52. Schultz went 2-for-2 again at the line with just over six minutes left.

With 3:33 left in the game Dunsmore went 1-for-2 at the line for a 72-60 Newberry lead. In the last minute of play the Wolves scored six points all off free throws for the 85-74 win. Leung hit two with 50 seconds left followed by Hill who also hit two with 34 seconds left. Britten closed the game by going 2-for-2 at the line with 16 seconds left.

UP NEXT
The Wolves will play Wingate at 2:30 p.m. at Furman University in Greenvillle on Saturday, March 5.