Women's Basketball Continues Late Season Push With Win Over Newberry

NEWBERRY, S.C. – The Mars Hill women's basketball continued its late season push with a key South Atlantic Conference win over the Newberry Wolves on Saturday, February 06 inside of Eleazer Arena. The Lions were able to prevail by the final score of 61-58, improving their record to 11-9 overall and 10-5 within the SAC while the Wolves fall to 12-10, 11-5.

Cadence Wilmoth led the charge offensively for the Blue and Gold as she poured in a game-high 22 points on 10-17 from the field to go along with six rebounds and five blocked shots. Kelsey Espinosa continued her efficient play, tallying 10 points on 5-8 shooting and a game-high 14 rebounds to complete her second consecutive double-double and third on the year.

MHU shot 44.2% from the floor while holding Newberry to only 34.8% overall. The Wolves held a slim advantage on the boards, pulling down 41 rebounds to Mars Hill's 38. The Lions were able to capitalize on 12 NC turnovers, turning them into 17 points.

Newberry was able to score the first four points of the ballgame, but a knock-down three from Sydney Comer and back-to-back layups from Wilmoth fueled a 7-0 spurt to give the Lions the lead at 7-4. However, the Wolves finished the opening frame with an 11-4 run to lead after one, 15-11.

That lead ballooned to 18-11 when Nicola Handreck buried a triple at the 9:36 mark of the second quarter. The Lions would continue to fight as they reeled off six of the next eight points to narrow the gap to 20-17, but a 9-4 run, capped off by a steal and layup by Newberry, gave the home team its biggest lead of 28-21 with just under three minutes remaining in the opening half.

Mars Hill made a mini run to close the half after Paige Chavis was fouled on her layup and she completed the old-fashioned three point play followed by six points from Wilmoth to only trail at the break 31-30.

Ansley Ricker came out in the third quarter and received an and-one while she was laying the ball off the glass. After the free throw the Lions gained their first lead since it was 7-6 with 3:38 remaining in the first quarter. The advantage would grow to as many as five after another big bucket from Wilmoth at the 4:32 mark of the period. That five-point lead would hold intact going into the fourth quarter with the Lions leading 50-45.

Chavis drained a deep three to give the Lions their biggest lead at 53-45 and the fourth quarter became a battle of attrition as Mars Hill tried to hang on for its third straight win and seventh in the last eight games. Ricker knocked down a single free throw to give the Blue and Gold a 61-58 lead with 10 seconds remaining. On the ensuing Wolves possession, Wilmoth collected her fifth and final block of the game on a three point attempt to tie the game to seal the Lions win.

Mars Hill will return to action on Monday, February 8 as they head to Wingate, N.C. to make up a game that was postponed due to weather conditions earlier in the season. Tipoff with the Bulldogs is scheduled for 6 p.m.