ANDERSON, S.C. - Using five players in double figures and a shooting percentage above 50 percent, Anderson University women's basketball fended off South Atlantic Conference rival Newberry and captured its eighth straight victory, 81-72, Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.

The Trojans conducted the season sweep of the Wolves and seals the first sweep by any team in the all-time since AU joined the SAC prior to the start of the 2010-11 season. The eighth straight win marks the longest by a Trojan team since the 2012-13 season, as they close the month of January with an 8-1 record. With the long winning streak, Anderson moves to 15-3 overall with a 12-2 mark in league play, as it now one win away from matching last season's total number of wins of 16.

For the third straight game, junior Jasmine Franklin scored in double figures and led the way for the Trojans with 18 points and nine rebounds, one board shy of her second consecutive double-double. Seeing the floor for 30 minutes, Franklin was 7-for-11 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line, as the 18 points set a new season-high.

Following the junior was senior guard Lesley Woods with 15 points, as she snaps a streak of four straight games having scored in single digits after averaging 13.5 points per game before the scoring skid. Woods buried four 3-pointers in the contest, handing her eight games this season with four or more made 3-pointers.

Sophomore forward Alexis Dillard added 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting, while classmate Nakia Young scored 13 points on the bench. Senior guard Sierra Simpson tallied 11 points to go along with her eight rebounds in 36 minutes of play.

As a team, the Trojans shot 50.9 percent (29-for-57) from the floor, including eight 3-pointers. Defensively, AU held the Newberry (13-7, 9-5 SAC) offense to just 38.7 percent (24-for-62) from the field, headlined by a 5-for-18 performance (27.8 percent) from 3-point land. Despite the win, Anderson's streak of out-rebounding its opponent was halted at seven straight games, falling in the battle of the boards, 38-37.

"I thought we were very efficient on the offensive side of the ball," Anderson head coach Jimmy Garrity said. "To score 81 points and shoot over 50 percent against a really good defensive team was a big accomplishment. It was nice to see such balanced scoring with five players in double figures and we did a really good job sharing the basketball with 13 assists and just 12 turnovers."

Anderson controlled the pace early on in the first half, jumping out to a 12-6 lead after playing just six minutes into the contest. Unable to take a lead in the opening moments, Newberry captured its first advantage following a 7-0 Wolf run over the next three minutes, as the visitors took their first lead at 13-12. The run was headlined by Newberry's first trey of the game by Kaitlynn Pacholke.

With just under 11 minutes remaining, the Trojan attack answered the spurt as Woods connected on a 3-point to end the NC run and gave Anderson the lead back at 15-13. The teams swapped the lead twice more until the score was deadlocked at 18-18. Following a pair of made free throws by Dillard, Anderson scored the next seven points and took a commanding 26-18 lead.

As the game continued to swing in AU's favor, the home side took their first double-digit lead when Franklin floated in a runner to put the score at 38-28 with 1:25 left in the opening period. Despite the advantage, Newberry's Haylee Lepaio responded with a traditional three-point play to set the halftime score at 38-31.

In the second half, Dillard and Simpson scored the first four points of the game, as Anderson took its longest lead of the game at 11, 42-31. Following a Jaya Schultz lay-in for the Wolves on the next possession, Woods countered with another trey to put AU ahead by 12 at 45-33.

The Trojans maintained its double-figure lead over the next three minutes until Newberry's Nicola Handreck split a pair of free throws that would make the score 52-43. Following an Anderson turnover on the opposite end, Handreck made two more free throws to cut the Trojan lead to seven, 52-45.

With the seven-point lead, Anderson pushed its lead back to double digits when Madison Floyd drained one of her two 3-pointers on the day, giving AU another 10-point lead. The Trojans maintained their lead for the remainder of the game, as the Wolves would no closer than five in the final seven minutes. In the final three minutes, Anderson went 9-for-10 from the free throw line to seal the conference win.

The Trojans continue league play on Wednesday when they welcome Tusculum to the Electric City. Tip-off from the Abney Center is scheduled for 6 p.m.