NEWBERRY - The Newberry women's basketball team had an impressive 69-56 home win to upset No.8/18 Catawba this evening. 

After no scoring for the first minute and half of the game, Newberry got the first points from senior Kelsey McDermott. Catawba then scored the next three point, via the free throw line, with Lyrik Thorne and Keyotta Garris making one and two respectively. This was the only lead that the Lady Indians had throughout the game, for a total of 50 seconds. The Wolves re-took the lead for the final time when red-shirt freshman Erika Wiseley made a jump shot, she was also fouled on the play and converted the and-one to put them up 5-3. A little under three minutes later Newberry went on a 7-0 run to increase their lead to 12-3 with 4:26 left in the first. Sara McIntosh of Catawba ended their scoreless streak by converting a three point play, a layup and free throw, to get back within six. The rest of the quarter saw the Wolves outscore the Lady Indians 9-5.

Catawba started the second quarter on the right foot by going on a 5-0 run in the first two and half minutes. Four minutes of game time went by before Newberry scored their first points, a jumper by junior Keli Romas. Taisha DeShazo of the Lady Indians scored the next four points to cut the lead down to five, with under five minutes left in the second. The Wolves turned around and got those four points back with buckets from seniors McDermott and Brandi Hall. With under two minutes left in the half, Shemya Stanback knocked down a pair from the charity stripe to make it 29-22, to get Catawba back within seven. Each team traded off points before Romas drained a three to push the Wolves lead to double digits. Catawba got a last second basket with Janiya Downs made a jumper right before time expired to make it 36-26 in favor of Newberry.

Knowing that they did not play well in the first half, Catawba wanted to make a statement to start the third. In the first three and half minutes, the Lady Indians scored more points, 7-1, than the Wolves to get the game back to a four point difference. Just when Catawba was getting it into a more manageable contest Newberry struck back to prevent it. The Wolves strung together a 9-0 run to enlarge their lead again back to double digits, with about four minutes left in the quarter. For the rest of the quarter 11 of the next 13 total points were scored by free throws, with Catawba out shooting Newberry 10-3 in that span. The Lady Indians found themselves only down six heading into the fourth. 

Romas and red-shirt freshman Mylaysia Gates got the Wolves lead back to a ten point difference, with each making a basket. A jump shot by Toni Tucker of Catawba made the score 53-45 with 7:36 left. The next six points were scored by Newberry in a three minute span to cushion their lead. The Lady Indians tired to nullify that Wolves run by going on a 5-0 run of their own to get within nine points. That was the closest Catawba got to the lead for the remainder of the game as Newberry pulled away late, by scoring ten of the final 16 points. 

With today win over a nationally ranked team, the Wolves have defeated two different nationally ranked teams this season. Newberry beat No.10/15, at the time, Anderson at home back in December. This is the first time since the 2016-17 season that Newberry has beaten two nationally ranked teams, when they got wins over No.7 Limestone and No.8 Lincoln Memorial, both at home.  

Top Performers:
Newberry
Kelsey McDermott - 18 points and two rebounds
Keli Romas - 17 points, three rebounds, and three assists
Julie Kinard - 10 points, three steals, and two rebounds

Catawba
Janiya Downs - 11 points and five rebounds
Shemya Stanback - Eight points and four rebounds
Keyotta Garris - Seven points and five rebounds
 
UP NEXT:
The Wolves will go on the road this Saturday Feb. 1st to take on Tusculum. Tip-off is set for 2:00 PM