Saturday,
February 28, 2004
NEWBERRY
CLAIMS 60-43WIN OVER PRESBYTERIAN IN SAC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
ACTION
Lady Indians get first
win over Blue Hose since 1992-93 season
NEWBERRY,
S.C. – The Newberry College Lady Indians picked up their
first win over Presbyterian College in over a decade with this
afternoon’s 60-43 win in South Atlantic Conference women’s
basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Eleazer Arena.
The win
gives Newberry its first win over the Blue Hose in over 11
seasons. The Lady Indians last defeated Presbyterian College
during the 1992-93 season. Newberry improves to 5-22 overall
and 2-12 in league play while Presbyterian falls to 8-19
overall and 3-11 in the league.
In the
first half, Newberry took an early 16-6 lead keyed by seven
points from as junior guard Laura Blanda (Holcomb, KS).
The Lady Indians continued to keep the lead in double figures
throughout the half and junior guard Karisa Dinges’ (Mendosa,
IL) layup at the 4:03 mark extended Newberry’s lead to
26-12. The Blue Hose, who struggled from the field in the
first half, cut the lead to 10 points at 29-19 entering
halftime thanks in part to 14 points from sophomore guard Rebecca
Wessinger (Laurens, S.C.).
PC hit only
seven-of-25 field goals in the first half for 28.0% while
hitting only five-of-15 at the charity stripe. Newberry shot
35.5% from the field in the first half on 11-of-35 attempts.
The Lady Indians were led by Banda’s nine first half points.
In the
second half, PC opened on an 11-6 run to cut the lead to 35-30
at the 13:16 mark on a three-pointer by freshman guard Brittany
Carroll (Dunn, N.C.). After Newberry pushed the lead
back to nine points at 39-30 on a layup by Dinges, PC went on
a 5-0 run with Carroll hitting her second three-pointer of the
half to trim the lead to four points at 39-35 at the 11:15
mark.
PC trimmed
the lead to four points at 41-37 on a pair of free throws by
redshirt sophomore forward Dana
Birnie (Suwanee, Ga.) before the Lady Indians
responded with an 19-2 run over the next nine minutes to pull
ahead 60-39 on a pair of free throws from senior center Kelsey
Maloney (Virginia Beach, Va.) with 1:39 left in the game.
The Blue Hose would score the last four points, but lost
60-43.
PC
struggled in the second half from the field shooting 20.8% and
finished the game shooting 24.5% from the floor. Newberry shot
44.0% from the field in the second half and went on to shoot
39.3% for the game.
Newberry
was led in scoring by Banda who tallied a team-high 15 points
to go along with five steals. Maloney added 12 points and five
boards while sophomore forward Lauren Wrightson (Damascus,
MD) came off the bench to add 10 points.
Presbyterian was led by Wessinger’s game-high 17 points while Birnie chipped in nine points and 10 rebounds.