Lenoir-Rhyne Advances To Championship Of Food Lion SAC Women’s Basketball Tournament With 78-62 Win Over Newberry

March 7, 2009

HICKORY, N.C. - The second-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears advanced to the finals of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament with a 78-62 win over third-seeded Newberry College at the Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Complex on Saturday.

Lenoir-Rhyne (25-4 overall) was led by freshman Cameron Sealey (Gastonia, N.C.), who was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field en route to an 18-point, seven-rebound performance. Denise Moore (Newport News, Va.) and Jami Safrit (Hickory, N.C.) each netted 16 points for the Bears and Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) scored 15 points.

"Denise Moore was the difference for them. She made some tough shots; she's a big time college player who made big time college plays. We had no answer for her," said Newberry head coach Sean Page.

Newberry (18-11 overall) was led by a career-high 26 points from sophomore Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.). Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) earned a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Laura Marquardt (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) rounded out double-digit scorers with 10 points.

Lenoir-Rhyne's Denise Moore helped to lead the Bears to the championship game of the 2009 Food Lion SAC Tournament with 16 points against Newberry. Photo by Mike Slade.

Lenoir-Rhyne trailed by a 29-25 margin at halftime, but sharp shooting in the second half allowed the Bears to outscore Newberry by 20 and claim the win. L-R was 15-of-22 (68.2%) from the field in the second stanza, a distinct difference from the two team's last meeting when the Bears connected on only three shots in the second half.

"Look at the way they shot the ball... It's hard to beat anybody doing that," said Page. "They're a really good team and played without who I think is their best player in Brittany Mitch. They played a great game today. Some of it was bad defense from us and some of it was great shooting from them. In the second half, they hardly missed a shot."

The turning point in the game came midway through the second half, when L-R went on a 12-4 run to claim its first double-digit lead of the game. The Bears made shots on five consecutive trips down the floor to pull away.

Newberry managed to cut the deficit down to eight points with 2:51 to play, but spectacular shooting from the charity stripe worked in Lenoir-Rhyne's advantage. The Bears went 22-of-26 (84.6%) on free throw attempts in th half, including connecting on 13-of-14 attempts in the final three minutes of the game.

Lenoir-Rhyne now faces top-seeded Tusculum in the tournament final tomorrow afternoon. The two teams split their regular season meetings.

"At their place, we lost 79-72, and I thought we gave them a good fight, but at home we did a great job of containing Jasmine Gunn." Lenoir-Rhyne head coach Todd Starkey said. "I think it's a 'one vs. one' game. We've played some big games this year. The bull's-eye has been on our back. We understand what pressure is all about."

At Hickory, N.C., CVCC
LENOIR-RHYNE 78, NEWBERRY 62
NEWBERRY
McKinney,Helen 9-22 2-2 26; Bulcher,Anita 6-11 1-1 13; Marquardt,Laura 3-10 3-4 10; Alexander,Monica 2-7 5-5 9; Johnson,Briana 1-2 0-0 2; Coates,Sade 1-3 0-0 2; Ward,Janine 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 11-12 62.
LENOIR-RHYNE
Sealey, Cameron 5-5 7-7 18; Safrit, Jami 5-8 6-8 16; Moore, Denise 7-12 2-2 16; Holt, Amber 5-9 3-4 15; Culler, Whitley 1-8 5-6 7; Webster, Meredith 1-1 0-0 3; Kremer, Jacquelyn 1-1 1-2 3; Williams, Jackie 0-1 0-0 0; Rann, LaCourtney 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-46 24-29 78.
Newberry............ 29 33 - 62
Lenoir-Rhyne........ 25 53 - 78
3-point goals-Newberry 7-18 (McKinney,Helen 6-12; Marquardt,Laura 1-5; Alexander,Monica 0-1), Lenoir-Rhyne 4-6 (Holt, Amber 2-3; Sealey, Cameron 1-1; Webster, Meredith 1-1; Safrit, Jami 0-1). Fouled out--Newberry-None, Lenoir-Rhyne-None. Rebounds-Newberry 28 (Bulcher,Anita 10), Lenoir-Rhyne 31 (Safrit, Jami 7; Sealey, Cameron 7). Assists-Newberry 11 (Marquardt,Laura 4), Lenoir-Rhyne 9 (Sealey, Cameron 3). Total fouls-Newberry 21, Lenoir-Rhyne 15. A-525