COLUMBIA — The Newberry women’s basketball team defeated Benedict 60-59 with a game-winning shot with 10 seconds left Tuesday night.
Benedict was leading 58-56 with less than a minute left in the game. After a missed layup by the Tigers, senior Kelsey McDermott collected the rebound with less than 30 seconds left. McDermott then dribbled the ball up the court toward the hoop for a layup, with her shot missing, but was fouled on the play. She missed her first free throw and made the second to make the score 58-57.
The Tigers called a timeout after the made free throw. On the play following the timeout Newberry fouled to send Benedict to the charity stripe. They made the first one and missed the second one for a score of 59-57. Newberry was able to get the board and call timeout with 21 seconds left. Following the timeout the Wolves ran their play to where junior Keli Romas passed the ball to McDermott. She takes the three point shot and makes it to put Newberry up 60-59 with 10 seconds left.
Benedict called timeout after the shot. After that the Tigers ran their final play, where they were able to get off a layup. The shot missed as time expired and secured a Newberry victory.
The game started off evenly for both sides as they traded off points ever few possessions. The Tigers went on a run at the end of the first quarter to take a 14-8 lead heading into the second period. Early on in the second quarter junior Dragana Petkovska helped the Wolves close the gap by scoring five of the first seven points.
With 2:39 left until halftime, the Tigers were able to gain a five point lead. With time winding down a made three pointer by freshman Courtney Virgo and a jumper by junior Kelsey Brett tied the game at 22-22. That score held up ending into the half.
Despite the shooting struggle by most of the Wolves in the second half, McDermott was able to turn it on. Twice the Tigers had leads of eight points or more during the second half. McDermott found her stroke by going seven of eight in the field, including six of six behind the arc. Her shot kept Newberry in fighting distance leading up to the game winning shot. McDermott finished the game with a career-highs in points with 23 and made three’s with six.
The Wolves return home to face Limestone today. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.