The Newberry College women’s basketball team fell to Davidson in a highly competitive contest last night. Newberry (8-3) led at the half, but Davidson (4-7) outplayed the Scarlet and Gray in the second for a 64-55 victory.

The first four minutes of the game saw only two points, seven turnovers and 11 missed field goals between the two teams.

Davidson finally converted a layup attempt, but then Newberry exploded out to a 12-2 run immediately after to lead by eight points midway through the opening half. Newberry saw its biggest lead of the half four minutes later when Keisha Henderson made a move to the basket and converted a tough layup to put Newberry up by nine.

Davidson rallied back to tie the game at 23-23, but Leanne Watson knocked down a 10-foot jump shot at the buzzer to put Newberry back ahead going into the locker room.

Newberry harassed the Wildcats with menacing defense in the first period. They held the Wildcats to just 26.5 percent (9-34) from the field and forced eight turnovers.

The score stayed within a basket for the first few minutes of the second half until Davidson went on a 13-4 run that spanned six minutes.

Newberry battled back and tied the game several more times.

In the last few minutes of the game, Newberry saw several close field goal attempts rattle out of the cylinder. Newberry created several key stops on defense, but couldn’t get baskets to fall at the other end and eventually saw the game slip away.

The Wildcats shot better in the second half and ended the night at 36.5 percent (23-63) from the field. Newberry shot just 26.7 percent (8-30) from the field in the second half. The Scarlet and Gray continued to show improvement on free throws, however, going 11-13 (84.6 percent) in the game. Newberry outrebounded the Wildcats 47-45 as well.

Watson led all players with 16 rebounds and also had six points and two steals. Helen McKinney led Newberry’s scorers with 12 points. Anita Bulcher had 10 points and eight rebounds in the effort.

Newberry will return to action in the new year on Jan. 2 at Carson-Newman.