HARROGATE, Tenn. — The Newberry College women’s basketball team (6-12, 2-6 South Atlantic Conference) dropped their first and only matchup of the season to the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters on Saturday, 63-41.
The Wolves’ leading scorer was redshirt senior center Ericka Wiseley (Mt. Pleasant). She recorded 15 points against the Railsplitters. Sophomore and redshirt senior centers April Rummery-Lamb (Darwin, NT, Australia) and Tyla Stolberg (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) each recorded six points in the loss. Wiseley and Rummery-Lamb were tied for the team lead in rebounds, each recording five rebounds in the contest.
Over the first minute of the game, the Wolves and Railsplitters traded baskets with Lincoln Memorial’s coming from beyond the arc to give LMU an early one-point lead. The teams then traded misses before the Railsplitters extended their lead with a layup. But the Wolves responded with two layups of their own from Wiseley to give them a one-point advantage with five-and-a-half minutes to play in the opening quarter. The Railsplitters responded with a three pointer to bring their own lead back to two points. The final five minutes of the first quarter was all Newberry, as the Wolves ended the quarter on a five minute, 9-0 run that included four free throws from Rummery-Lamb and a converted and-one from junior guard Dyani Burke (Columbia). At the end of the first quarter, the Wolves led the Railsplitters 15-8.
The Wolves opened up the second quarter cold, missing three shots to open the period while the Railsplitters got to work cutting into the deficit. Two made layups and a free throw had cut the Wolves’ lead to one point when Wiseley finally sank the teams’ first basket of the quarter with seven-and-a-half minutes left to play. An LMU basket quickly tied the game at 17 points each, but Wiseley again sank a layup to reclaim the lead. But just as quick as the Wolves reclaimed the lead, the Railsplitters tied the game up once again. The teams combined for four missed shots and three turnovers before Lincoln Memorial hit a jump shot with 4:13 remaining in the half to claim their first lead since the first quarter. Following the Railsplitters reclaiming the lead, the Wolves were unable to get a shot to fall for almost four minutes when Rummery-Lamb netted a layup with 16 seconds remaining in the opening half. Over that span, LMU sank two baskets and three free throws, growing their lead to seven points, 28-21 heading into the locker room.
The Wolves went to work cutting into the lead early in the third quarter. Junior guard Faith Putz (Des Moines, Iowa) opened the half by sinking a three pointer under a minute into play resuming. After a Railsplitters three pointer, junior guard Payton Cronen netted a layup and Putz sank her second shot of the quarter to cut the LMU lead to three points with 6:40 to play in the third quarter. The next five minutes proved to be detrimental to the Wolves as Lincoln Memorial went on a 15-0 run, bring in the lead to 18 points, 46-28, before senior guard Holly Davies (Camberley, Surrey, England) netted a layup with 50 seconds left to end the run. But the Railsplitters scored the last basket of the quarter by going down court and sinking a layup. In total, the Wolves went four for 11 from the field with six turnovers in the quarter. With ten minutes left to play, LMU’s lead stood at 18 points, 48-30.
Aided by four points from Wiseley, the Wolves started the fourth on a 6-1 run over the first three minutes. But the Railsplitters responded with nine consecutive points over the next four minutes to increase their lead to 22 points. The Wolves missed three shots over that span and committed two turnovers. The rest of Newberry’s five points in the contest came off of free throws, four of which were made by Stolberg. With the Railsplitters’ offense unrelenting, the Wolves fell 63-41.