Wolves fall to Wingate at home on last second shot

NEWBERRY — Newberry College women’s basketball fought hard to erase a fourth quarter deficit, but it wasn’t enough and they lose a heart breaker. The Wolves(9-7, 3-6 SAC) fell 59-57 to Wingate(10-5, 5-4 SAC) at home on Wednesday, Jan. 14th.

Eleazar Arena was packed with loud fans on Wednesday evening to see their Wolves face off against a conference foe. The price of admission was worth it because this game went down to the wire and it took a last second shot to decide this game.

Neither team could get things going on the offensive end to start this game, but Newberry was able to weather the storm and led 15-13 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was the same story, but the back-and-forth continued for both teams. Newberry found themselves trailing 24-19 late in the first half and closed the half out on a 7-0 run.

The Wolves held a 26-24 lead at halftime, despite Jada Brown and Rickell Brown both struggling from the field. Marykate Kent was able to pick up the slack with her long range shooting.

The Bulldogs came out of the locker room on a mission in a third quarter and had their best field goal percentage of the game in the third quarter. They jumped out to a quick 4-0 run to reclaim the lead, 28-26. Of course, the Wolves weren’t going to let the visitors steal momentum on their home floor and were able to battle back.

Kent knocked down another three-pointer to tie the game at 34-34. The Bulldogs were able to answer and went on a 8-0 run to build a double-digit lead. They shot 53 percent from the field and made two-of-four three-point shots in the third quarter. Newberry was able to close out the quarter strong to trim the deficit, but still trailed 44-39 at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter started off rocky for the Wolves. They were in danger of letting the game slip away and themselves trailing 49-41 in the early parts of the fourth quarter.

Newberry then proceeds to go on a 12-2 run for the next three minutes of game time to reclaim the lead, 53-51, and shift the momentum. Wingate was forced to call a timeout with about 1:25 left in regulation and the Newberry fans were all out of their seats cheering.

The Wolves’ run was fueled by Rickell Brown and Leigha Harris. Both players picked up their scoring in the fourth quarter. Harris finished with a double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds. Brown finished the game with 13 points, five rebounds and five steals.

Wingate was able to score an easy basket out of the timeout to tie the game at 53-53, but Harris answered immediately by knocking down a jumper on the next possession. Newberry held a 55-53 lead with 57 seconds left to play.

The Bulldogs responded by drawing the foul and making both free-throws to tie the game again, 55-55. Newberry then tried to answer quickly, but had a crucial turnover down the stretch with about 35 seconds left in regulation. They were forced to foul after the timeout and Wingate knocked down both free-throws. They now led 57-55 with 16 seconds left in the final period.

Newberry was desperately searching for basket to tie the game and they went to Kent who had the hot hand. Unfortunately, she came up short on the three-point attempt but Jada Brown secured the rebound and was fouled. She knocked down both free-throws with no problems and the game was tied 57-57 with three seconds left to play.

Wingate called a timeout to regroup and hopefully draw up a game winning play. The Bulldogs were able to find Laura Montiel in the paint on a cross court pass that went over three Wolves’ defenders heads and she made a great move to make a tough layup. Newberry had only .6 seconds left on the clock and threw up at a full court prayer that was no good.

Despite the loss, Kent finished with 17 points for Newberry and they outscored Wingate 18-15 in the fourth quarter while overcoming a deficit.

“Well one, if you guys know basketball then you know you don’t lose on the last possession. We had 27 turnovers. We won three of the four quarters with stops and scores but we got outscored in the third quarter 20-13. So, you don’t lose games on the last possession. We missed four free throws and threw the ball away 27 times. Our goal every game is under 12 turnovers. That means you valued the basketball, gave them[opponents] less opportunities to score and give us more opportunities to score,” said Wolves head coach Johnette Walker.

She continued, “If you turn the ball over only 12 times you beat these top half [of the conference] teams by 15 or maybe even 20 but if you throw the ball over 27 times then you have no chance of beating a team. So, you don’t lose on the possession. Our plan was to switch everything and stay between your man and the basket. We lost this one when we decided not to play defense in the third quarter. We lost it when decided to throw the ball away 27 times to a team that zoned you for 24 minutes of the game, not even pressured you in your jersey but zone. That’s how you lose this game not on the last possession.”

Newberry College losing streak extends to three games now and they will have to try to regroup on the road against Carson-Newman. The game is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 17th with a 2:00 p.m. tip-off.