NEWBERRY — The Newberry College women’s basketball team (2-3. 0-0 South Atlantic Conference) defeated the previously undefeated Allen Yellow Jackets 80-64 last week.
Redshirt senior center Ericka Wiseley (Mt. Pleasant) was the game’s top scorer, recording 16 points in the Wolves’ victory. She also recorded three rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Junior guard Payton Cronen (Louisville, Ky.) recorded the second most points for the Wolves with 15. Cronen was the Wolves’ top rebounder, recording eight boards in the contest. Senior guard Holly Davies (Camberly, Surrey, England) tallied 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists in the 16-point victory.
The Wolves quickly got off to a five-point lead after two minutes as Wisely made two shots from under the basket and Cronen sank a shot from beyond the arc. Over the next three minutes, the Wolves lead swelled to 13 points as the Wolves went on a 10-2 run punctuated by three-pointers from Cronen and junior guard Faith Putz (Des Moines, Iowa), bringing the score to 17-4 in favor of the Wolves with five-and-a-half minutes to play in the first quarter. The Wolves ended the quarter on a 10-8 run, growing the lead to 15 points and giving the Wolves a 27-12 advantage heading into the second quarter.
The teams’ defenses held strong to start the second quarter and neither was able to score a basket until Allen sank a jump shot after almost two minutes had elapsed in the quarter. Twenty seconds later, Cronen answered with her third made three pointer of the game as the Wolves led 30-14. But after an 8-0 Allen run was ended by an Ericka-Wiseley layup, the Wolves lead sank to 10 points, 32-22. Thirty seconds later, the Wolves got back on track as Cronen sank her fourth three-pointer to kickoff a 10-2, three-minute run for Newberry that put the Wolves up 44-24. Allen’s offense put on a strong showing to end the half, and the Wolves went to the locker room up 15 points, 46-31.
The Yellow Jackets cut the lead to nine points after scoring the first six points of the second half, but Davies put the Wolves back on track with a layup to put the lead back to double digits, 48-37. Over the next minute-and-a-half, Putz tallied five points including one from beyond the arc and Wiseley scored another layup to add another three points to the Wolves lead, 55-41, with six minutes to play in the third quarter. The Wolves and Yellow Jackets went almost basket-for-basket over those final six minutes, with Newberry’s lead swelling to 17 points to end the quarter up 66-49.
The Wolves opened the final quarter with a three-minute, 5-0 run, making the lead the 71-49 in favor of the Wolves. The Yellow Jackets didn’t sink their first basket of the quarter until there was 6:18 remaining in the game. With three minutes to play and up 19 points, Head Coach Joanna Tincher pulled the usual rotation in favor of younger players and freshman Gabreyel Cook (Harrisburg, N.C.) checked into the game. Other young players checked in for the Wolves in the final three minutes as Wolves rode the fourth quarter lead to a 80-64 victory.