NEWBERRY — The Newberry College women’s basketball team (4-4, 0-0 South Atlantic Conference) defeated the Erskine Flying Fleet, 38-31.
The Wolves’ top scorer was redshirt senior Ericka Wiseley (Mt. Pleasant) with 10 points. She also recorded four rebounds and a block in the win. Junior guard Payton Cronen (Louisville, Ky.) recorded nine points, five rebounds and an assist in Thursday night’s matchup.
The Wolves got off to a great start in the first quarter. Newberry opened the game with three made field goals, including a three-pointer from Cronen, to open the game with a 7-0 lead. After two and a half minutes had elapsed, the Flying Fleet scored their first basket of the game. The Wolves’ defense did not allow another point for the rest of the quarter. A minute and a half later, Cronen sank her second three-pointer of the game to bring the Wolves lead to eight points. After forcing eight misses from the Flying Fleet, redshirt senior center Tyla Stolberg (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) sank a pair of free throws with 1:53 remaining in the opening quarter. In the final minute of the quarter, junior forward Mercer Roberts (Myrtle Beach) drained two free throws to put the Wolves up 14-2 heading into the second quarter.
After an Erskine basket to open the quarter, Cronen responded with her third three-pointer of the game just 13 seconds later. Cronen’s third shot, made from beyond the arc, started a 6-3 Wolves run that also saw Wiseley pick up four points in the course of two and a half minutes. Erskine went three minutes without a basket before making a two-point shot with 5:08 remaining, bringing the score to 23-9 in favor of the Wolves. Over the final five minutes of the half, the Wolves held the Flying Fleet to just three points while Wiseley and sophomore guard Ella Pearson (Sudbury, Suffolk, England) both made a layup to give the Wolves a 27-10 lead heading into the locker room.
The Flying Fleet made adjustments at halftime and made two three-point shots in the first two minutes and forty seconds of the third quarter, cutting the Wolves’ lead to 11 points. Stolberg gave the Wolves their first points of the second half with two made free throws with 5:57 remaining in the third quarter. Over the next three minutes and twenty five seconds, Erskine scored nine unanswered points to cut the Wolves’ lead to four points. Wiseley scored her ninth and tenth points of the game on a layup with 1:09 left on the clock and senior guard Holly Davies (Camberley, Surrey, England) sank a three-pointer with 12 seconds remaining, putting the Wolves on a 5-0 run to end the quarter. The Newberry lead was back to nine points, 34-25, heading into the final 10 minutes.
The Wolves forced three Flying Fleet turnovers before Erskine scored their first points of the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws with eight minutes left to play. The Wolves immediately responded with a basket of their own to add two points back to the lead. The Flying Fleet then went down court and sank a three-pointer to cut the Wolves’ lead to six. Over the next three minutes and twenty four seconds, the Wolves and Flying Fleet held each other scoreless until an Erskine free throw cut the lead to five points with 4:20 left to play. Davies scored the final two points of the game with just over four minutes to play after netting both shots from a pair of free throws. Over the final four minutes, the Wolves defense forced eight missed shots from the Flying Fleet and secured the 38-31 victory.