NEWBERRY. S.C. — On a cold shooting day by both teams, the host Newberry Wolves survived a late LMU run to eke out the 53-47 win over the Lincoln Memorial University women’s basketball team Saturday afternoon.

LMU (5-5, 2-3 SAC) led for most of the first half and held a 21-20 lead at halftime. Newberry (6-5, 2-3 SAC) grabbed a lead late in the third quarter and held off a late run to seal their second South Atlantic Conference victory of the year.

Rachel Griffith led LMU with 11 points, while Qua Hines had nine. Emily Griffith had seven points and Sydney Duggins scored six points. Ross Mathis chipped in five points, Dasia Maxwell had four, Jordan Brightwell notched three points and Karsen Sims added in two points. Shermeria Quarles led LMU in rebounding with 11 rebounds.

Meg Essex led Newberry with 15 points while Courtney Lyons chipped in 11.

Neither team had a strong day offensively as LMU hit 26.9 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from three-point range and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. The Wolves were slightly better, going 39.1 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from behind the arc and 60.0 percent from the charity stripe. NC slightly out-rebounded LMU by a 41-35 margin.

The teams traded leads throughout the first quarter, with Rachel Griffith putting LMU up 11-8 with 1:32 remaining. After Lyons cut the lead to one, Emily Griffith hit a 3-pointer to extend it back 13-10 at the end of the period.

Newberry would out-score LMU by a 10-8 margin in the second quarter but still trail LMU by one at the half. A Qua Hines 3-pointer with 9:39 remaining put LMU ahead 16-10 in what would be their largest lead of the game.

Apart from two free throws, the Lady Railsplitters would then go scoreless from the field for the next 8:56. Newberry, however, would cut the lead to one on two occasions but never take the lead.

Newberry scored four quick points to begin the third period, but the Lady Railsplitters held the lead until the 1:23 mark when Regan McCarty hit a layup that sparked a 10-0 Wolves run extending into the fourth quarter.

They would eventually get the lead up to seven before a pair of free throws by Emily Griffith and later a trey from her sister Rachel cut the lead to 50-47 with 14 seconds left. Newberry would hit three of four free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.

Up Next

LMU will close out the pre-Christmas schedule as they host their second nationally ranked team in a row as Southern Indiana visits Harrogate next Tuesday. The Eagles are currently ranked 17th in the WBCA Coaches’ Poll and seventh in the D2SIDA National Media Poll.

They are currently 9-0 on the season and this will be their first appearance in the Tex Turner Arena. The only other previous meeting between the two programs was on Nov. 24, 2009, with USI winning 86-78.