Saturday, March 3, 2007

NEWBERRY ADVANCES TO SAC TOURNAMENT FINAL WITH 75-62 WIN OVER TUSCULUM, PIONEERS END SEASON AT 16-13

HICKORY, N.C. --- Tonique Frasier scored 27 points to lead third-seeded Newberry to a 75-62 victory over seventh-seeded Tusculum in the semifinal round of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament on Saturday evening at the Catawba Valley Community College Arena.

Newberry (23-6) would score 31 points off 19 Pioneer turnovers and also out-rebounded Tusculum (16-13) by a margin of 36-27.

The Lady Indians would jump out to a 14-6 lead when Ashlee Wright hit a jumper at the 14:14 mark.  Tusculum responded by cutting the Newberry lead to three points at 20-17 when Shantae Shank converted a lay-up at the 9:27 mark.  Newberry would go on to outscore Tusculum 18-12 over the last 9:02 of the first half to take a 38-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, Newberry started off on a 20-7 run to jump out to a 58-36 lead with 10:31 remaining in the game as they went on to the 13-point victory.

Fraiser finished 11-of-17 from the field while grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.  Wright scored 19 points while Monica Alexander finished with 11 points and four steals.

Tusculum was led in scoring by Chassity Martin, who finished with 19 points.  Brooke Underwood contributed 14 points and finished the game with seven assists.

- TC -