GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - The Newberry women's basketball team collected a 73-60 road victory against Tusculum this afternoon. 

Before the opening tip, Tusculum was assessed a technical foul, with senior Kelsey McDermott making both free throws. The Wolves went up 4-0 after a layup by junior Kelsey Brett. The Pioneers tied the score at 4-4 in just one minute of game time, with layups by Mia Long and Kasey Johnson. Junior Keli Romas broke the tie with her first bucket to give Newberry the lead again, just 20 seconds after Tusculum knotted it up. The Wolves than stretched the score to 17-4, by going on an 11-0 run, which included McDermott and freshman Courtney Virgo hitting a combine three shots behind the arc. After almost four minutes of being on a scoreless drought, the Pioneers scored their first points with a layup by Johnson. Newberry closed out the first on a 6-2 run to go up 23-8 heading into the second. 

After almost two and a half minutes of no scoring, Tusculum got on the board first with Maddie Sutton getting a bucket, who was also fouled on the play and converted the free throw. A basket by McDermott gave the Wolves their first points of the quarter for a score of 25-11 with 7:14 left. Much of the second quarter consist of both teams going back and forth and trading buckets. With 3:35 left until the break, red-shirt sophomore Julie Kinard got a steal and went to the hoop for a layup. She made the bucket and was fouled on the play to send her to the charity stripe for a potential three play, which she does convert. The Pioneers scored the last five points of the half with a layup by Long and a three by Kristen Click to make it 33-20.  

Newberry starts off the quarter with Virgo heading to the line after being fouled. She makes both of her free throws to extend the Wolves lead. Sutton of the Pioneers got a layup for the team to give them their first points of the second half. A 5-0 run by Newberry increased the lead to 40-23 with 5:20 left in the third. A three by Jalia Arnwine tried to cut into the deficit but a three point play by Romas, layup and free throw, negated that. After a three by Virgo, the Pioneers scored four straight points to make it a 14 point difference. Almost three minutes went by with neither team scoring, both sides scored four points apiece in the final minute of the quarter. 

The Wolves scored the first four points of the fourth before the Pioneers went on a 7-0 run. Senior Brandi Hall ended the Tusculum run with a jumper to make it 55-43. With 4:09 left, the Pioneers brought the Wolves lead down to single digits with Long, who had the score the last five points Tusculum, making a layup. Red-shirt freshman Mylaysia Gates pushed the deficit back up to double digits by scoring the next four points for Newberry. The final 2:25 of action turned into a free throw game, with all but two of the final 24 points coming from the stripe. 

With today's victory, not only did this gave Newberry their first three game win streak, but also their first victory in which they did not hold their opponent to under 59 points.

Top Performers:
Newberry
Kelsey McDermott - 19 points, four assists, and two rebounds
Courtney Virgo - 16 points and five rebounds
Brandi Hall - 12 points and nine rebounds

Tusculum
Mia Long - 20 points, seven rebounds, and six steals
Maddie Sutton - 16 points and 13 rebounds
Kasey Johnson - 12 points and four rebounds
 
UP NEXT:
The Wolves will stay on the road for this upcoming Wednesday Feb. 5th when they play nationally ranked Anderson for the second time this season. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM