NEWBERRY – The Wolves endured their first loss of the season to King in a tightly-contested game that came down to the final possession on Saturday afternoon at Eleazer Arena.
With the loss, Newberry moves to 8-1, while the Tornado improve to 4-4.

King scored the first seven points after the opening tip before Courtney Lyons drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Wolves on the board. The Tornado would connect on consecutive shots from behind the arc to extend their first quarter lead to 10. Newberry whittled down the lead and tied the game at the end of the period thanks to a barrage of 3-pointers from Lyons, Shelby Britten, Regan McCarty.

Newberry would continue their hot shooting at the start of the second quarter, pushing their lead to 29-20 midway through. A balanced scoring attack from the Tornado would eventually cut the advantage and lead to a 35-35 tie at the half.
The Tornado and Wolves continued to battle back and forth in the second half as neither side seemed to gain an advantage.

In the fourth, Meg Essex knocked down a jumper to give Newberry a five-point lead with under three minutes to go.

The Tornado responded with a 7-0 run backed by four points from Kori West, a 6-4 transfer from East Carolina, who made a jumper with less than two seconds on the clock. A timeout from Newberry gave the Wolves possession from half court following West's shot. A well-drawn play saw McCarty nearly send the game into overtime as she received the inbounds pass on a cut to the basket, but her layup attempt bounced off the backboard and time expired.

Britten led the Wolves with 20 points on 5-of-11 shooting from behind the arc, while Lyons finished with 13 points, including 10 in the first half. Essex was held scoreless in the first half for the first time this season but dropped 13 points in the second half.

McCarty ended with 11 points and snagged eight rebounds while Brandi Hall pulled down a career-best 10 boards.
 
POSTGAME NOTES:

• Meg Essex now ranks fifth in school history in career scoring with 1,397 points
• Newberry's eight-game winning streak was the longest since a seven-game stretch in the 2016-17 season
• Britten has recorded at least 20 points and five 3-pointers in the last two games
• Saturday's game saw 12 lead changes and six ties

 
UP NEXT:
The Wolves will enjoy a well-deserved break until Saturday, December 29 when the team travels to Tigerville to take on North Greenville for the second time this season. Newberry previously defeated the Crusaders, 64-58, in the second game of the season as part of the SAC-Conference Carolinas Challenge. Tip-off from Hayes Gymnasium is set for 2 pm.