NEWBERRY, S.C. – Despite a 13-point, five-rebound performance from senior guard Holly Davies (Camberley, Surrey, England), the Newberry College women's basketball team (6-13, 2-7 South Atlantic Conference) dropped their first matchup of the season with divisional foe Coker on Wednesday night by a final score of 75-49.

Davies' 13 points were the most by a Wolf in the contest. Her five rebounds were tied for the second most by any Newberry player in the loss. Davies also recorded a steal. The team's second leading scorer was junior guard Dyani Burke (Columbia, S.C.) who recorded nine points in the game. Burke led the team in rebounds with six and also recorded a steal.

The Wolves offense got off to a slow start against the Cobras, letting Coker grow a 5-0 lead before finally scoring their first basket with just under six-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first quarter. Following a missed shot from Coker, redshirt senior center Ericka Wiseley (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) sank a jump shot to shrink the lead to one point. But the Wolves' offensive struggles continued as over the next three minutes, the missed five consecutive field goals and turned the ball over once before ending their scoring drought when junior guard Faith Putz (Des Moines, Iowa) made a free throw with two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the opening quarter. The Cobras put up seven points during the Wolves' drought. Things did not get much for the Wolves for the rest of the quarter as scoring opportunities did not present themselves to the Wolves, making one of their two field goal attempts and adding a free throw to their total to enter the second quarter down 10 points, 18-8.

The Wolves and Cobras traded baskets over the first two minutes of the second quarter, both adding six points to their totals with Newberry going three-for-three from the field in that span. Following the 6-6 run, both teams struggled to score over the next three minutes. Newberry added three points on a pair of free throws from Davies and one from redshirt senior center Tyla Stolberg (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). The Wolves' offense found its footing in the final stretch of the first half, outpacing the Cobras 7-3 over the three minutes ending with a minute-and-a-half to play in the half. Five of those points came from Putz. Davies capped the half off by putting up five points in the final 45 seconds to shrink the lead to just two points, 31-29, heading into the locker room.

The Wolves' struggles restarted in the third quarter. The team missed two field goals before finally scoring their first points on a pair of free throws from Davies with just over two minutes played in the quarter.The Cobras struggled to score as well over that period so the lead grew just two points over that span. Following that stretch, the Cobras controlled the pace of the game, and Newberry had just two possessions over the course of two minutes as the lead grew to seven points with just over five-and-a-half minutes played in the third quarter. The Wolves once again cut into the lead four Wolves combined for seven points while holding Coker to four points over a two-minute stretch. But again the struggles resurfaced as the Wolves scored four points over the final three minutes of the quarter while the Cobras put up 10 points during that same stretch. While Newberry committed no turnovers, the Wolves went one-for-five to end the half. With the late run from Coker, the Wolves trailed by 10 points, 53-43, with ten minutes left to play.
The final quarter was not kind to the Wolves. Burke sank the Wolves' first fourth-quarter field goal with 6:43 remaining in the game. The Wolves added just three more points on three free throws to close out the game and went one-for-twelve from the field in the quarter. The Cobras offense did not struggle as much and defeated the Wolves 75-49.


The Wolves are back on the court Saturday, Jan. 28 as they head on the road for their rubber match against the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 P.M.