HICKORY, N.C. — Another afternoon with four players in double-digits pushed the Newberry women’s basketball team to a 70-59 victory over the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears on Saturday, as sophomore Samantha Creed led the way with 19 points of her own.

Newberry (15-5, 7-3 SAC) feel behind the Bears (12-6, 7-3 SAC) early in the afternoon as the home team jumped out to a quick eight point advantage when Krystal Patton hit a 3-pointer under five minutes into the opening period. The Wolves battled, cutting the Bears lead to only two points on multiple occasions, but in the final five minutes of the opening half Lenoir-Rhyne held off the Wolves to take a six-point lead into the locker room.

Sophomore Haylee Lepaio led the Wolves in the opening half with eight rebounds, while Creed turned in a four rebound performance in the opening half.

The second half quickly turned in the Wolves’ favor as a 9-2 run in the opening four minutes secured Newberry’s first lead of the afternoon as senior Kendra Brown scored on a layup. Lenoir-Rhyne quickly regained the lead, but the back-and-forth contest soon swayed in the Wolves favor when junior Tasia Holdorf converted a three-point play that would give Newberry a two point lead over the Bears with under nine minutes remaining in regulation.

Holdorf’s conversion of a layup and made free throw, was the final push the Wolves needed as Newberry never trailed for the remainder of the afternoon. A jumper by Lepaio put the Wolves ahead of the Bears 54-50 and set off a 6-1 run, which saw the Wolves’ lead reach 58-51.

Lenoir-Rhyne crept back into the game, but a 3-point make by Creed with a little over a minute remaining in the game gave the Wolves a nine-point advantage. Made free throws by Brown and junior Ellie Gleeson secured an 11-point victory for the Wolves.

Creed led the Wolves with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Lepaio scored 15 points and pulled down six boards. Brown added 15 points and four rebounds in 32 minutes of action. For the first time in a Newberry uniform Holdorf reached double figures as she posted a 14-point performance in 16 minutes on the floor. Gleeson added six rebounds and three assists.

Newberry outrebounded the Bears 45-39, and outscored Lenoir-Rhyne in the paint 30-24.

The Wolves return home on Wednesday for a showdown with the Anderson Trojans at 6 p.m., where Newberry will look to avenge a six-point defeat at Anderson in early January.