NEWBERRY - The Newberry women's basketball team secured a home victory by a score of 85-68 over UVa-Wise. 

After the Wolves won the opening tip, they scored on their opening possession with a jumper by red-shirt freshman Ericka Wiseley. The Cavaliers did not take long to tie the game at two a piece after a made jump shot by Kalee Johnson. Within 10 seconds of Newberry bringing the ball down the court, a screen got junior Kelsey Brett freed up and found herself wide open to hit a three to put them up 5-2. UVa-Wise tied the game up at 7-7 with Nia Vanzant draining a three. With the game tied at 9-9, junior Keli Romas made her presence felt by scoring the next five points for the Wolves. Eventually Newberry went on a 10-0 run midway through the first to go up 24-11 with 3:42 left in the quarter. In the final three minutes of the quarter the Wolves once again outscored the Cavaliers by a 10-2 margin, including junior Talia Roberts making back-to-back three's, to make it 34-14 at the end of one. 

UVa-wise got the scoring going to start the new quarter when Caitlyn Ross made a jumper. After Newberry matched the two points, the Cavaliers scored the next four points to make it 36-18 with 7:51 left in the quarter. The Wolves then turned it around by six points with back-to-back three's by Romas and freshman Courtney Virgo. The Cavaliers followed that up by doing the same thing on the other end of the court. Nearly two minutes went by before any scoring happened, which ended after a layup by red-shirt freshman Mylaysia Gates. Each side traded off three pointers with Brett of Newberry making one first before Vanzant made one of her own. The half closed out with the Cavaliers edgeing out a 5-2 margin to make it 50-36 heading into the half. 

A made free throw by Wiseley, who scored a career-high 18 points, gave Newberry the first point of the new half. A quick 5-0 scoring output, by Hannah Oliver and Ross, helped UVa-Wise get within ten points. The Wolves pushed their lead back up by going on a 6-0 run for nearly two and a half minutes to make it 57-41. A fastbreak layup by Vanzant sparked a 7-0 run by the Cavaliers to close the gap to within single digits. Wiseley was able to end that UV-Wise run and put two points on the board for Newberry with her bucket. In the final four minutes of the third the game stayed tightly contested but with the Wolves holding the slight 10-6 advantage to make it 67-54 at the end of three. 

Newberry increased their lead to nearly 20 points after Gates and Roberts scored the first four points of the quarter. Ross of the Cavaliers matched that all by herself within a minute and a half after that with free throws and a jumper. Wiseley scored four more points for the Wolves in a 40 second span, midway through the fourth quarter. In the remaining five minutes of the game, each team matched shot for shot with both teams scoring eight points. The victory improves the Wolves conference win total to nine, which currently puts Newberry in fifth place in the conference standings.

Top Performers:
Newberry
Ericka Wiseley - 18 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks
Keli Romas - 19 points, four rebounds, and three assists
Kelsey Brett - 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists

UVa-Wise
Nia Vanzant - 18 points and six rebounds
Caitlyn Ross - 13 points, four rebounds, and four assists
Ada Stanley - 10 points and nine rebounds
 
UP NEXT:
The Wolves will be home again this upcoming Wednesday Feb. 12th when they play Queens, in their annual Play4Kay game. Tip-off is set for 5:30 P.M.