NEWBERRY – On Saturday afternoon, Newberry fell in a conference contest to the Trojans of Anderson with a final score of 68-43.
The Trojans (16-8, 10-6 SAC) amped up their play coming out of halftime and pulled away from the Wolves (12-11, 7-9 SAC) after a tightly contested first half. The opening half ended with a score of 34-32 in favor of Anderson.
With 5:20 left in the third period, Anderson would go on an 11-0 run that began their separation from Newberry. Before Alexis Dillard and the Trojans got hot from inside the painted area, Meg Essex and Hannah Lepaio would tie the game up with a pair of buckets respectively.
Anderson carried their scoring efficiency into the fourth period where they put the game out of reach from the Newberry, going on a 15-0 run spanning the final 5:32. The Trojans' defense held the Wolves to 0-for-9 shooting over their last couple of shots. The tough defense only allowed Newberry to score four points in the final period.
The Wolves were able to hold graduate forward Alexis Dillard to 11 points, an assist, a steal, and eight rebounds. This strategy forced other Trojans to step up like Ace Easter and make plays off the bench. The Trojans' bench posted 33 points with Easter claiming 16 of them.
This matchup saw six ties and nine lead changes. Newberry led for 15:22 with their largest lead at six points. Anderson led for 22:16 with their biggest lead coming at 25 points.
Anderson nabbed seven with five-plus rebounds for a total of 55, swinging the margin of 30 their way. Newberry grabbed 25 boards with Essex leading the team with five rebounds of her own.
The Wolves were perfect from the charity stripe going 6-for-6 from tonight. This is the first time this season that the Wolves nabbed 100 percent free throw shooting.
Essex wouldn't let her team go quietly as she tallied 17 points, five rebounds, a block. She led the team in steals while matching her season high in steals with two. As a whole Newberry stole the ball from Anderson eight times.
The Wolves were able to disrupt the Trojans causing 12 turnovers during the game while only turning the ball over eight times.
Alley Stasky
recorded her first season points and tied her season high in rebounds. Samara Hill added seven points, an assist, and four rebounds. Shelby Britten posted four assists, four points, a steal, and two rebounds. Newberry nabbed one more assist than the Trojans, spreading the ball around nine times.
Head coach Sean Page stated, "We played a good first half but like many times this season we were unable to finish." He continued, "We are going to try to learn and improve from it."
Newberry will head to Queens in Charlotte, N.C. on Wednesday Feb. 14 in another conference double-header starting at 6:00 p.m.
