HICKORY, N.C. – The Newberry women's basketball team is set to take on Lenoir-Rhyne in the first round of the SAC Championships this Wednesday at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.
Lenoir-Rhyne claimed the four seed in the SAC regular season with a 16-12 record overall and an 11-9 record in SAC play, giving the Bears the opportunity to host their first-round game.
The Wolves finished strong at the end of the season while matching up with the top three seeded teams in the SAC regular season in Wingate, Anderson, and Carson-Newman.
The Wolves first picked up an impressive win over Wingate, holding the Bulldogs to season-lows in points and field goal percentage en route to the Bulldogs worst loss of the season, 64-51. Newberry then narrowly fell to nationally ranked No. 10 Anderson on the road, 82-76, with the matchup against the Trojans coming down to the final minutes of the game.
Closing out the season, the squad picked up a 75-65 win at Coker and came up just short against Carson-Newman by a final score of 63-61, at home to round out the regular season.
Seniors
Shelby Britten and
Meg Essex have shined for the Wolves in the past five games. Britten recently surpassed 200 career 3-pointers and leads the SAC in 3-pointers this season with 83 in total.
Essex has scored 10+ points in each of her past eight games and is shooting a superb 52.2% from the field while remaining a defensive anchor in the post for the Wolves.
Recently the Wolves have been dominating on the defensive side of the ball, holding Lincoln Memorial and Wingate to season-low point totals and field goal percentages.
SCOUTING THE BEARS (16-12, 11-9 SAC)
- Lenoir-Rhyne is on a four-game winning streak and has won five of their past six games entering into the matchup with the Wolves
- Newberry and Lenoir-Rhyne split the regular season series this season
- The Wolves won the first game in Hickory, 75-68, behind Meg Essex's 31 points and 15 rebounds
- Lenoir-Rhyne claimed the second game at Eleazer, 69-63
- The Bears are excellent from the charity stripe, making 77.5 of their free throws, a mark that ranks 10th nationally across Division II
- Senior guard Kendall Toinetta leads the SAC in assists per game, dishing out 5.7 per game
LAST TIME OUT
Fans can purchase tickets to the game by visiting the Lenoir-Rhyne women's basketball schedule page at https://lrbears.com/schedule.aspx?path=wbball
Date: Wednesday, Mar. 6th
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Site: Shuford Memorial Gymnasium, Hickory, N.C.
Radio: WKDK-1240 AM, Jimmie Coggins play-by-play
Video/Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/lr/
Last Meeting: L, 63-69 (February 6, 2019)
