Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University women's basketball team opened the second half on a 28-7 run en route to a 67-51 South Atlantic Conference victory over Newberry College in Cuddy Arena and Thomas Koontz Family Court Wednesday. Wingate (16-6 overall, 14-1 SAC) has won 12 consecutive games. The Bulldogs have earned 14 straight league victories. Newberry is 13-8 overall and 9-6 in the SAC.
 
For Wingate, graduate student forward Chantal Dunbar (Virginia Beach, Va.) had team-high totals of 15 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Shelby Tricoli (Waynesville, N.C.) added 14 points and four rebounds, while senior guard Kelli Bonner (Yadkinville, N.C.) had 11 points on the strength of a game-high three three-point field goals. Redshirt senior point guard Brittany Hill (Mechanicsville, Va.) had six points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals.
 
For Newberry, junior guard Colleen Leung (James Island, S.C.) and freshman guard Nicola Handreck (Heywood, Victoria, Australia) posted 10 points each. The visiting Wolves shot 29.6 percent from the floor (eight-of-27) in the pivotal second half.
 
"Newberry is an outstanding team in this league," Wingate head women's basketball coach Ann Hancock says. "They have talented players who make it difficult to defend; however, our defensive effort in the second half was tremendous. We were able to convert some turnovers into fast-break points which made a difference for us." 
 
Wingate led 31-27 at halftime, thanks to 10 points from Dunbar and six from Bonner. Leung had seven points for the Wolves, while junior guard/forward Samantha Creed (Montmorency, Victoria, Australia) added six markers. The Bulldogs shot 50 percent in the opening frame (14-of-28) and a perfect 100 percent (three-of-three) from downtown. Bonner hit both of her first half triples, while sophomore guard Taylor Walker (Trinity, N.C.) also posted a first-half triple.
 
Six different players contributed to the 28-7 second stanza flurry; Tricoli and graduate student forward Andrea Bertrand (Midlothian, Va.) led the way with six points each. Both Bonner and sophomore guard Alex Tomlinson (Raleigh, N.C.) had five points each in the run. A Tricoli triple ended the push, making the score 59-34 Wingate with 11:56 remaining in the contest.
 
After starting the half three-of-five from the floor, The Wolves missed their next 11 field goal attempts in a row. A Handreck lay-up (10:47) ended the drought and cut the Newberry deficit to 59-36. The visitors would get no closer than 21 down the stretch.
 
A Tricoli steal and lay-up gave the hosts their largest lead at 67-39 with 5:33 left to play. Newberry scored the last 12 points of the contest to account for the final margin.
 
Wingate outrebounded Newberry 39-31, as Bertrand matched Dunbar with seven rebounds. Senior forward Brooklyn Boston (Lenoir, N.C.) pulled down five caroms. Newberry senior center Haylee Lepaio (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) led the Wolves with seven boards. Both Creed and freshman forward Hannah Lepaio (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) had five rebounds each.
 
The Bulldogs outscored the Wolves 40-18 in the paint. In addition, Wingate turned 16 Newberry turnovers into 21 points. The Wolves converted 14 points from 14 Bulldog mistakes. Wingate had 13 fast-break points, compared to two for Newberry. Creed and Haylee Lepaio entered the game averaging a collective 32.1 points per game. On Wednesday night, both student-athletes netted nine points each.
 
 "Brittany Hill did a good job on not letting Samantha Creed get into a rhythm offensively," Hancock says. "Creed can do a little bit of everything, but she never seemed to get into the flow. Offensively, we were balanced and were able to attack from the perimeter and get some paint touches.  It's good to be successful at home."
 
During its current 12-game winning streak, Wingate is averaging 70.5 points per game while surrendering only 55.1 points per game. The Bulldogs visit second-place Anderson (16-3 overall, 13-2 SAC) Saturday at 2 p.m. The Newberry Wolves return home to face Lincoln Memorial Saturday at the same time.