Newberry, S.C. - In the final regular season game of the year, the Newberry Women's basketball team edged past the Lenoir-Rhyne (LR) Bears, 67-66, on Senior Day. With the win, Newberry finishes the season 12-15 (12-12 SAC) and clinches the sixth seed in the 2022 SAC Tournament. Lenoir-Rhyne finishes the season 11-15 (10-14 SAC) overall and are eliminated from postseason play.
RECAP
LR scored the game's first points in a matchup that could end one team's season and send the other to compete in the SAC Tournament. Newberry found themselves in an early, 13-4, hole just four minutes into the game. The Wolves put together an 11-6 run to cut the deficit down to four (19-15), capped off by two made three's from Courtney Virgo (Mackay, Australia) and a triple from Payton Cronen (Louisville, Ky). LR would remain solid though as they ended the first quarter with a deep three-pointer from Hanna McClung to head into the second with a 26-17 advantage.
Ericka Wiseley (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) was a force to be reckoned with in the paint today, scoring eight of her 26 points in the second quarter to send her team into halftime down by four, 35-31.
Newberry battled from behind the entire third quarter but kept the game close. Wiseley scored the team's first three points of the second half only for it to be answered by Hanna McClung's third three-pointer of the day. April Rummery-Lamb (Darwin, NT, Australia) responded with four-straight points of her own to bring the Wolves back within four, 43-39. The Bears would go on to outscore the Wolves, 18-17, in the third to head into the final quarter with a 53-48 lead.
Giulia Bongiorno (Rome, Italy) drained a long two-pointer to score the fourth quarter's first points. Both teams would trade buckets but Wiseley would score six straight for the Wolves to bring them within two (58-56) with six minutes left to play. LR's Emily Harman drove through the lane for a tough made-layup to go back up by four. Newberry found their momentum with five minutes left to play as Holly Davies (Surrey, England) sank a free throw and a deep shot from downtown to tie the game at 60.
Bongiorno made a tough layup followed by a Wiseley free-throw to put the Wolves up, 63-60. Blaikley Crooks drained a late jumper to cut the margin down to one, only for Wiseley to respond with her 26th point of the day 16 seconds later to give her squad the three-point advantage (65-62). Emily Harman sank a pair of free throws and made a layup to put the Bears back up by one, 66-65. Finally, a pair of Bongiorno free-throws with two seconds left would secure the Senior Day victory for the Wolves, 67-66.
Ericka Wiseley finished the day with a career-high 26 points on an impeccable 91-percent (11-for-12) shooting from the field and 50-percent (4-for-8) from the foul line. She also grabbed four rebounds and tallied a block on the way to victory.
Giulia Bongiorno was also a key contributor in the win, scoring 11 points on 57-percent (4-for-7) shooting from the field with four rebounds and three assists to add to her stat line.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Newberry Women's basketball team will begin postseason play on Wednesday (Mar. 2) as the sixth seed in this year's South Atlantic Conference Tournament. The Wolves will travel to Catawba for the opening round. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside the Abernethy Physical Education Center.
