Wolves survive late game push by Lander

NEWBERRY — Newberry College women’s basketball are rolling to start the 2025-26 basketball season. They remain undefeated after winning a nail-bitter against Lander University on Tuesday, Nov. 18th. The Wolves(3-0) defeated the Bearcats(0-3) 60-59 in a hard fought battle at Eleazer Arena.

Head coach Johnette Walker is off to a strong start in her second year as head coach for the Wolves and she looked to remain undefeated in the early season and win her second consecutive home opener. She would do just that, but things didn’t start off good for the Wolves in this one.

The young roster for Newberry College struggled with turnovers in the first quarter. Their defense was able to keep them in the game and Lander had their own turnover troubles as well in the opening quarter and throughout the game. The two teams were tied 10-10 with a little under three minutes to play and only scored two more points to close out the quarter. The home team trailed 16-12 going into the second quarter.

Newberry struggles continued to start the second quarter and found themselves on the wrong end of a run. Lander extended their lead 21-12 before Walker called a timeout so her young squad could regroup. Sophomore guard Rickell Brown began to heat up for the Wolves. She help lead her team on 12-5 run to pull closer and then eventually take the lead late in the first half. The Wolves also picked up the intensity of defense and went into halftime with a slim 30-29 lead.

The Bearcats had yet another good start to a quarter. They were able to come out of halftime and go on a 6-0 run to reclaim the lead. The Wolves were able to answer their short run with one of their own. Reghan Williams and Marykate Kent were able to hit three consecutive three-point field goals to give Newberry the lead right back.

The crowd started to get into the game and they got even louder after Ryan Hernandez was able to steal the inbound pass and get a quick layup to force a Bearcats’ timeout. The Wolves kept things rolling and finished the third quarter in control of the game with a 46-40 lead.

The visiting Bearcats started the fourth quarter out on a fierce 9-2 run led by Lauren Crosland to reclaim the lead 49-48. The back-and forth continued because Newberry would go on a 5-0 run to jump back out in front, 55-49. The Wolves lead by as much as nine points, but their turnovers helped the Bearcats stick around.

Lander goes on a 7-1 run after trailing 59-50 to make the game a little tighter in the final minute. Crosland did most of heavy lifting on offense for the visitors as she scored or assisted on the last seven points of the game. Newberry struggled mildly with the full court pressure by Lander and missed three of four free throw attempts in the last 20 seconds of the game that set up a potential game tying field goal.

The Bearcats quickly got the ball up the floor on the last play of the game and Crosland was able to knock down a long field goal at the buzzer. Of course, it created some controversy and the referees were forced to go to the monitor to review Crosland’s feet when the shot was released. They decided that she had one foot well inside the three-point line and the call would stand as a made two-point field goal.

Brown would score 20 points, have four steals and grab four rebounds for the Wolves. She has scored 20 or more points in all three games to start the season for the Wolves. Kent had 14 points and went 4-of-8 fro the three-point line. Freshman forward Jada Brown didn’t have her best game due to the early foul trouble she got in, but she still managed to score four points, grab four rebounds and had three steals. This game had 10 lead changes and the score was tied five different times throughout the game.

“We are young, super super young with freshmen and sophomores but they are talented. This year, the biggest difference is that they have bought into everything I have asked them to do. They are going hard and that’s what I want. The energy and the effort has been contagious so far this season and that’s what I want. I love it. Young but hungry,” said Walker.

Despite forcing 24 turnovers from the Bearcats, the Wolves also had 23 turnovers themselves that led to 15 points for Lander.

“My starting point guard is a freshman and I am going to live and die by her mistakes. I am trying to preach to my young players that have a next play mentality. If you turn the ball over then go get a stop, and that’s okay. Next play,don’t hold on to the negative but pull the positive out of it,” said Walker.

She continued, “Again though, they are going to play hard and that’s what I love about them. Even if they throw the ball away then they are going to going to try to actively get a stop. Even if they don’t they are going go at 100 percent to try to get it but next play is what I am trying to instill in this young group.”

The Wolves will have a few days off before returning back to Eleazer Arena for a home date with Toccoa Falls College on Friday, Nov. 21st at 6:30 p.m.