NEWBERRY, S.C. -- Four Wolves scored in double digits Wednesday night to boost Newberry to a 99-54 victory over the Queens Royals. Ericka Wiseley led the Wolves, scoring 18 points and pulling nine rebounds. Courtney Virgo (14 points), Mylaysia Gates (11 points) and Kelsey Brett (10 points) also scored in double digits.

The game was close early in the first quarter, with Queens scoring the first bucket and leading for a little bit, but things quickly changed for the Wolves, starting with 7:51 to go in the quarter when Payton Cronen took a pass from Brett and made a jumper to tie the game. That basket would kick off a 29-7 Newberry run that would last the rest of the quarter. During that stretch, Virgo scored eight points, with the Wolves going 5-8 from behind the arc.

The second quarter started right where the first quarter ended, with Newberry opening on a 9-3 run, but the Royals would start to tighten the score, matching the Wolves bucket-for-bucket until the2:44 mark, when Wiseley hit a layup, which was followed by Alexis Miller hitting a layup to stretch the Newberry lead to 52-25. The Royals would score the final five points of the quarter to make it a 52-30 lead entering the locker room. Wisely finished the half with 12 points, while Virgo had 11 points. 

In the second half, Newberry continued to increase their lead, going 9-19 from the field in the quarter, compared to 4-19 for the Royals. Gates was the breakout star of the quarter, scoring nine points to lead all players, while Newberry shot 80% from the free throw line. Gates entered the game with 6:33 remaining, and needed just 20 seconds to score, hitting a layup with 6:10 to go. After a make by the Royals, Gates took a pass from Cronen and hit another layup, pushing the Newberry lead to 64-40. 

She would hit another layup coming out of a timeout, then 50 seconds later hit a free throw, extending the lead o 67-40. The Wolves outscored the Royals, with 9-1 over the final three minutes of the quarter, shooting 3-5 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line. The fourth quarter was the same story, with Newberry outscoring the Royals 21-13 on the strength of shooting 50% from the field and hitting five from behind the arc. 

Inside the Boxscore

• This was the first win for the Wolves by 30+ points since Jan. 25, 2019 when they beat Mars Hill 93-58. 
• This was the most points scored this season for Newberry, and the 68 field goal attempts is also the most this season.
• Wisely had a season-high 18 points on the night. She is third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.5 points per game.

Up Next
The Wolves will return to Eleazer Arena Saturday afternoon when they take on Carson-Newman. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. There will be limited in-person attendance, with live stats and video available through newberrywolves.com.