Slow Start Dooms Lions In Loss to Newberry

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Mars Hill women's basketball team could not shake off a cold shooting start on Saturday, February 04, falling to the visiting Newberry Wolves by a final of 66-43 inside of Chambers Gymnasium. The Lions fell to 4-18 overall and 2-14 within the conference, while NC improved to 12-8 overall and 8-8 in league.

Madison Ervin was the high point scorer on the evening for the Lions, tallying 12 in her 34 minutes of action. Jenny Edwards and Aliyah Farmer notched 10 points each, while Sydney Comer grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Mars Hill struggled early to score the basketball en route to a poor 22% (13-59) from the floor, including 3-of-17 from distance. MHU was able to beat the Wolves in points off turnovers (19-14) and second chance points (11-8), but was outrebounded 48-31 by Newberry.

The first quarter was one to forget for the Lions as Newberry quickly jumped ahead 14-0 behind a quartet of threes. Ciara Hampton put a stop the run with a pair of free throws at the 4:08 mark of the opening frame, but could muster only a single point over the next four minutes and change. The Wolves ended the session on a 9-1 burst to lead by 20 (23-3) after one.

Mars Hill began to play more competitively in the second quarter, only allowing Newberry to add two points to its lead before halftime (38-16). A make from the charity stripe by Edwards with a little over two and a half to play in the first half trimmed the deficit to 16 (32-16), but Newberry finished the first 20 minutes with a 6-0 run.

An 8-2 start to the third by the Wolves gave them their biggest lead at 46-18 and would control a 56-30 margin heading into the fourth. Mars Hill outscored Newberry 13-10 in the final stanza, but it was too little, too late as the Wolves came away with the 66-43 victory.

Shelby Britten led all scorers with a game-high 19 on 6-of-11 overall, including five from behind the arc. Nicola Handreck and Meg Essex contributed 15 and 14, respectively, while Handreck also pulled down a game-high 13 boards. After a sizzling 64% first half shooting the Wolves cooled off to finish the game at 43.4% (23-53), but hit 12 shots from downtown.

The Lions will be back in action on Wednesday, February 8 as they travel to Brevard to take on the Tornado. Tipoff for that contest is scheduled for 6 p.m.