The Lenoir-Rhyne Women’s Basketball Team overcome a 19-point fourth quarter deficit to down the visiting Newberry Wolves inside Shuford Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Bears outscored Newberry 29-6 in the final quarter to defeat the Wolves 65-61. The win extended the Bears home winning streak to fifteen straight games including a perfect 11-0 this season. Emily Harman scored 16 of her game-high 23 points in the second half to lead the Bears in the epic comeback.

The Bears were held to ten points in each of the first two quarters as the Bears shot 22.2% and 25.0% to start the game. Newberry came out and shot 72% in the first quarter including 4 for 5 from long rang to open a ten point lead after the first quarter. The Wolves had a 13-0 run during the second quarter which helped them opened a 38-20 lead at the half.

Things got heated with :33 seconds left in the half as Newton-Conover grad Hannah Stull and Azariah Fields along with Newberry’s Dyani Burke each received a technical foul for a scuffle under the basket. Fields was also ejected for the remainder of the contest.
Harman lead the Bears with 7 points in the half while Burke had 11 points for the Wolves.

The Bears cut the lead to a dozen in the third quarter but Newberry than extended the lead to 21 points, their biggest lead of the game. Freedom High grad Blaikley Crooks made a layup at the buzzer to cut the lead to 55-36 to enter the fourth quarter.

A 13-0 run by the Bears cut the Newberry lead to 57-51 with 3:40 left.  Back to back shots by Harman then a three by Crooks give the Bears their first lead at 60-59 with 1:10 left. Holly Davies missed a three for Newberry on the next possession then Harman extended the lead to three with two free throws. Davies than made her shot the next possession but Harman made two more free throws to extend it to 64-61 with just 15 seconds left. After a timeout and advancement of the ball, a Newberry three-pointer by Payton Cronen from the corner was off as the Bears completed the comeback. In all, the Bears outscored the Wolves 29-6 in the final quarter.

Harman had 16 points in the second half on her way to a season-high 23 points. It is the 15th time she has scored 20 or more points in her career. Harman added seven rebounds to lead the Bears. Her  jumper at the end the second period give the junior her 900th career point. She is 100 points away from being the 23nd member of the 1K club. Crooks had 17 points and six rebounds for the Bears. Jalen Gathers had 13 points and six rebounds in 37 minutes of action.

The home teams has now won ten straight games in this series. The last time a road team won was the Bears 69-63 win at Newberry on February 6, 2019.

The Bears were trailing by as many as 21 points in the second half.

Lenoir-Rhyne improves to 18-2 overall, 8-2 in the South Atlantic Conference. Bears will host Limestone on Wednesday night. Tip-Off is schedule for 5:30 PM.