Wednesday, November 19, 2004
BLUE HOSE DOWN NEWBERRY 73-67
NEWBERRY, S.C. – Rebecca Wessinger scored a career-high 29 points to lead Presbyterian College to a 73-67 victory over Newberry College in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Wednesday night.
The Blue Hose held an eleven point lead with 1:08 left, but the Lady Indians hit two three pointers to pull within five and had a chance to pull it to a one possession game, but Newberry missed a three pointer with 15 seconds left and junior Cameron Cook hit two free throws to ice the game.
Freshman Ashley Marine (Peachtree City, Ga.) hit three trifectas during the comeback, her final one drawing Newberry within four points. Newberry forced a Presbyterian turnover and had 24 seconds in which to work, but missed its next attempt.
Poor first-half shooting by both squads left Newberry (10-5, 1-3 South Atlantic Conference) with its lowest halftime point total of the season, a 23-18 deficit. Both teams were under 27% in the first period from the floor.
One would not have expected a Presbyterian win by the way the game started. PC (4-12, 2-2 SAC) faced a fast nine-point hole at 11-2, nine minutes into the game, and did not convert its first field goal until the 10:15 mark of the first half. However, Newberry could not capitalize on the Blue Hose draught, scoring only three points in a nine-minute span in the heart of the period. PC scored the last eight points of the half to take a 23-18 lead into the locker room.
The Blue Hose mounted double-digit leads on three separate occasions in the second half, only to allow Newberry to trim that edge to a handful of points each time.
Four Indians scored in double figures: Carnicha Bellinger (Greenville, S.C.) with 15, Tonique Frasier (Walterboro, S.C.) with 12, and Ashley Marine (Peachtree City, Ga.) and Taquala Cooks (Redan, Ga.) with 11 each. Bellinger and Frasier notched double-doubles, adding 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
PC’s Bridget Takach (Chapin, S.C.) and Wesley Campbell (Greenville, S.C.) recorded 12 and 11 points, respectively, as the only other Blue Hose in double figures.
Both teams take the road for Saturday’s contests; Newberry travels to Tusculum for a 2 p.m. contest, while Presbyterian will face Lenoir-Rhyne at the same time