NEWBERRY - The Newberry women's basketball team picked up a 74-70 home victory over Lenior-Rhyne on Senior Day. 

Newberry started the fourth quarter down three to Lenoir-Rhyne, 52-49. Junior Keli Romas brought it down to one by knocking down a pair from the charity strip. During the next Bears' possession, senior Kelsey McDermott stole the ball, which led to a three by Romas to put the Wolves up 54-52. Newberry continued their early fourth quarter run by scoring eight more points, as the Wolves open up the quarter on a 13-0 run. With five minutes left in the fourth, Nakia Hooks of Lenoir-Rhyne took matters in her own hands as she scored the next nine points for the Bears to make it 67-66, in favor of Newberry, with 2:16 left.

With time winding down Lenoir-Rhyne was forced to foul and send the Wolves to the line. After three made free throws by Newberry, Hanna McClung of the Bears drained a three to make it 70-69. The Wolves brought the ball down the court on their next possession and ran their offense. Eventually Romas found her opening as she drove to the hoop make a layup to put Newberry up 72-69 with 33 seconds left. Fast forward 30 seconds, after McDermott made her second free throw, the score is 74-70 with 13 seconds left. Lenior-Rhyne calls a timeout to draw up their play and to advance the ball. The Bears come out of the timeout and ran their play, to where Laney Fox was wide open in the corner. Fox takes her shot and the ball bounces off the rim and goes out of bounds for Newberry ball. The Wolves inbound the ball to run the remaining clock to for the victory. 

The Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne found the basket first with a jumper by Ashley Woodroffe. The Wolves answered back with freshman Courtney Virgo making a three. Karlie Bearden of the Bears scored the next four points to put them back up, 6-3. The teams then went back and forth trading points for the next couple of minutes. The Wolves eventually went on a 8-0 run for a four minute span to make it 16-10. Lenoir-Rhyne finally ended their scoring drought with a three by Kennedy Weigt. Newberry would then close out the first on a 9-0 run to make it 25-13 heading into the second. 

A jumper by Weigt put the Bears back within ten points of the lead. Another three by Virgo of the Wolves made the score 28-15 with nine minutes left until half. Lenoir-Rhyne fought back by going on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit down to single digits, in a one minute span. Newberry tried to stop the momentum, after Virgo drained a three, but Weigt of the Bears responded back with a three of her own. Another 5-0 run by Lenoir-Rhyne saw the Wolves lead down to one with 4:10 left. Junior Talia Roberts pushed the lead back to three with a jumper. After a pair of free throws by Weigt, Roberts tacked on a free throw of her own, to make it 34-32. Lenoir-Rhyne would not go into the half quietly as Weigt hit a last second shot to tie the game at 34-34 heading into the break. 

The Bears took over the lead a little over a minute into the third, after a jumper by Bearden. Much of the quarter saw the teams trading off points with neither side gaining the competitive edge. The Wolves would tie the game with 4:48 left in the third, after a free throw by junior Ke'Shaun White to make it 40-40. After each side matched buckets, a three by White and a jumper by Romas gave Newberry a 47-44 lead. The rest of the quarter saw the Bears outscore the Wolves by a 6-2 margin to take a 52-49 lead heading into the final quarter. 

Top Performers:
Newberry
Courtney Virgo - 17 points and four rebounds
Keli Romas - 13 points, five assists, and three rebounds
Brandi McMillan - Eight points and seven rebounds

Lenoir-Rhyne
Kennedy Weigt - 21 points and two rebounds
Karlie Bearden - 14 points, six rebounds, and three steals
Nakia Hooks - 10 points, seven rebounds, and three steals
 
UP NEXT:
The Wolves will play their final home game of the season next Wednesday Feb. 26th against Coker. Tip-off is set for 5:30 P.M.