Garry Talbert
NEWBERRY — Despite an 18-point performance from senior guard Holly Davies (Camberley, Surrey, England), the Newberry College women’s basketball team (8-19, 4-13 South Atlantic Conference) dropped their midweek matchup to the Wingate Bulldogs 73-53.
Davies was the Wolves’ leading scorer. She also tallied six rebounds, three assists and a steal in the loss. Fellow senior guard Giulia Bongiorno (Rome, Italy) was the team’s second leading scorer with 12 points. She also added two rebounds, a block and a steal to her stat line.
Down four points, Davies opened the scoring for the Wolves with a layup 50 seconds into the contest. Aside from a free throw from redshirt senior Ericka Wiseley (Mt. Pleasant), the Wolves’ next points came just over three minutes later as Davies sank a jump shot. The Bulldogs added four more points in 30 seconds to increase their lead to 13-5 as the clock passed the five-minute mark in the first quarter. Bongiorno, redshirt senior Tyla Stolberg (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) and sophomore guard Tyla Paraha (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) combined for the next three baskets of the game to cut the lead to two points with two-and-a-half minutes to play in the first quarter. But the Bulldogs answered right back with four points of their own as the Wolves committed two turnovers. Bongiorno scored the final basket of the quarter with 42 seconds remaining on the clock to cut the lead to just four points, 17-13, entering the second quarter.
The Wolves gave up eight points and four turnovers before Davies scored the first Newberry basket, a three pointer, with just under six minutes to play in the first half. Then junior guard Payton Cronen (Louisville, Ky.) tallied five points in 42 seconds as the two teams went back-and-forth around the halfway point in the second quarter. Inside of four minutes to play in the half, the Wolves went one-for-three from the field and one-for-two from the free throw line to collect three points. The Wolves defense held Wingate to just six points in that same span and headed to the locker room down 10 points, 34-24.
Davies opened the scoring in the second half with a layup just under a minute into the third quarter. But it took the Wolves just under two-and-a-half minutes to score again, a three-point shot from Cronen. Davies and Cronen went back-and-forth with the Bulldogs’ shooters, giving the Wolves a slight edge and knocking the lead back to 10 points with just under five minutes to play in the third quarter. The next basket, from Wingate, came almost three minutes later as both teams missed two shots and committed a turnover. Over the next minute-and-a-half Bongiorno and sophomore center April Rummery-Lamb (Darwin, NT, Australia) each netted a field goal for five total Newberry points. With 21 seconds left in the quarter, Davies sank the final basket of the quarter. The Bulldogs ran down court, but the Wolves defense forced three missed shots in the final ten seconds as the Bulldogs took a 12-point, 55-43, lead into the final 10 minutes of play.
Bongiorno drilled a three pointer and Wiseley added a layup over the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. The Wolves missed four shots over that span, but gave up no turnovers. Almost two minutes later, Davies added two more points for the Wolves on a layup assisted by Bongiorno. The Wolves held the Bulldogs scoreless over the next three minutes as Wingate missed two shots and committed four turnovers, two on steals by the Wolves. Davies added her 18th and final point of the game with just under two-and-a-half minutes to play in the fourth quarter on a free throw. The Wolves added two more points, a layup from Stolberg, as Wingate took the win 73-53.