Salisbury, N.C. – The 14th-ranked Catawba College women's basketball team clinched at least a share of the South Atlantic Conference regular season title on Wednesday evening, rolling to an 84-52 win over Newberry for their fourth straight win, all by double-figures. Catawba moves to 21-4 on the year and 16-3 in SAC play, while Newberry falls to 8-19 overall and 6-13 in the SAC. The win ensures that Catawba can claim the outright SAC title and the number one seed in next week's SAC Tournament on Saturday with a win over Emory & Henry.
TEAM STATS
- Catawba buried 14 more shots than Newberry, going 32-65 for a nearly 50 percent night from the floor. The Wolves would convert just 18-59 attempts, including a 6-35 mark from beyond the arc
- Catawba also led from the charity stripe, with a 17-20 mark. Newberry would go 10-12
- On the glass, Catawba won the rebounding battle by a 45-32 margin, including 15 offensive boards. The home side was dominant in the paint, with 50 points to just 14 for Newberry inside
- Catawba forced 26 Newberry turnovers while giving the ball away 19 times themselves, but scored 12 more points off of those turnovers, 26-14
- Bench points were a huge factor, with Catawba's reserves pouring in 51 points compared to 31 from Newberry's backups
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Mary Spry tied for the lead among all scorers with a career-high 16 points on an efficient 8-11 outing in just 14 minutes. She was joined in double-figures by Lyrik Thorne (13), Sydney Gueterman (11) and Janiya Foskey (10)
- Thorne and Saniya Wilson tied for the game-high in assists, with both of them dishing out three
- Wilson also pulled down a game-high seven rebounds, with Spry and Foskey each tallying five and Janiya Downs grabbing four
- Defensively, Thorne notched a game-high four steals, as Downs came away with three. Nala Baker and Jada Porter would each add two of their own
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
- It took just over two minutes for the game's first basket, with Downs opening things up with a layup at the 7:58 mark. That would be followed by makes from Sara McIntosh and Foskey as Catawba opened on a 6-2 run in the first 3:09 of play
- That would extend into a 10-4 start with 4:33 to go, as Spry and Thorne became the fourth and fifth Catawba players to score
- After a Nadia Burns layup with 2:24 to go, Catawba would hold Newberry scoreless for the rest of the quarter as Kaira Dixon-Booker tacked on a basket to make it 14-6 Catawba at the first intermission after an excellent defensive and balanced offensive effort
SECOND QUARTER
- It only got better for Catawba from there, as the home side surged ahead by outscoring Newberry 23-10 in the second frame
- Downs matched a pair of Newberry baskets with two of her own in the early going before an and-one from Thorne made it 21-10 Catawba with 7:10 to go
- While Catawba would go scoreless over a 2:24 stretch, they would allow just three points from Newberry over that time before a pair of Foskey free-throws broke the streak
- Four free throw makes apiece from Foskey and Thorne beginning at the 4:46 mark sparked a 10-0 Catawba run, capped off by a layup from Thorne to make it 31-13 with 2:27 until the half, Catawba leading by 18
- Newberry would convert a trio of free-throws that would be answered by makes from Foskey and Gueterman, punctuating a 16-3 Catawba run over the final 5:35 of the first half that gave the home side a commanding 37-16 lead
THIRD QUARTER
- Jess Tomkins and Chloe Andrew spurred an 8-4 Newberry run out of halftime as the Wolves looked to answer, and even through they held Catawba to just four points in almost five minutes of play the damage was done
- Spry went on a 10-5 run by herself beginning at the 5:16 mark and ending just over three minutes later with 2:03 to go, with Catawba leading 51-29
- Wilson then made a pair of baskets to answer a pair of Newberry threes, with Catawba heading into the final quarter on a 6-0 run and up by 25 points, 57-32
FOURTH QUARTER
- Catawba opened the final 15:00 on an 11-6 run, as their 6-0 run blossomed into a 17-6 surge that gave them a 30-point lead, 66-36. Gueterman scored five, as she canned a three and knocked down a pair of free throws
- Gueterman and Brooklyn Ingram kept Catawba rolling as Newberry converted a series of triples, with the lead never dropping below 27 points during the final period. Gueterman scored nine of her 11 points in the final quarter, while Ingram scored five of her seven
- Abi Svenson capped the game off with a three-pointer of her own, as Catawba cruising to an 84-52 victory
UP NEXT
- Catawba is back in Goodman Arena on Saturday for Senior Day, looking to claim their fifth regular season SAC crown outright; tip is set for 2 p.m.
