MARS HILL, N.C. - The Newberry (12-8, 8-8 SAC) women's basketball team defeated Mars Hill (4-18, 2-14 SAC) on the road by a final of 66-43 on Saturday afternoon. The win gives the Wolves a sweep of the season series against the Lions for the first time since the 2009-10 season. 

Newberry began the game on a 14-0 run before outscoring Mars Hill 23-3 in the first quarter. All three Lions points in that quarter came from the foul line, as they would not register a field goal until the 9:44 mark on an Aliyah Farmer layup. 

Junior guard Nicola Handreck dropped 10 points in the first quarter, eight of which took just 24 seconds. Teammate Jaya Schultz found Handreck shortly after tip-off in which the guard knocked down a three-pointer to open up the scoring. Moments later, Nicola came up with a steal and would knock down two free throws after getting fouled on a layup attempt. Just eight seconds later, Handreck again recorded another steal, and then nailed a shot from beyond the arc to give Newberry an 8-0 lead at the 9:34 mark of the first quarter. 

Handreck finished her 35-minute afternoon with a double-double tallying 15 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds. It is the third double-double of the season for the Heywood, Victoria, Australia product who now owns over half of the double-doubles recorded by the team this season. 

Nicola would collect 12 of those rebounds on the defensive end which also notched a career-high. Adding to her already impressive stat line, she dished out five assists and earned two steals. 

Newberry finished the game shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three-point land, all while holding the Mars Hill Lions to a 22 percent shooting performance. It marks the lowest shooting percentage vs. the Wolves this season. 

Shelby Britten scored a game-high 19 points in the win to go with six rebounds and six assists. She connected on five three-pointers giving the sophomore guard a single game career-high in the category. Britten leads the South Atlantic Conference in minutes played coming in at 35.8 minutes per game on the year. She has notched double figures in 16 games this season. 

Meg Essex chipped in 14 points for Newberry putting the center in double figures for the 15th time this season. Essex added two more blocks to build on her historic season on the defensive end. She also picked up two steals, which ties a career-high. 

Newberry finished the evening with three starters in double figures for the 15th time this season.

Second-team preseason all-conference Paige Chavis was held to just six points on 2-of-10 shooting in 36 minutes. Madison Ervin led the Lions with 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting. 

Samara Hill returned to the Wolves bench after missing the last four games. Hill finished the afternoon with six points in five minutes. 

Newberry will travel to Catawba on Wednesday, Feb. 8 to take on the Catawba Indians. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.