Newtown High School's girls' basketball team defeated visiting New Fairfield 43-38 in overtime, handing the Rebels only their third loss of the campaign, on February 1. Newtown followed that up with a 37-20 victory over host Masuk of Monroe two days later, and a 58-25 triumph over visiting New Milford on February 7. The Nighthawks carry a seven-game winning streak into their final two regular-season contests. Newtown stands at 14-4 overall and 9-2 in South-West Conference play.

Against New Fairfield, Nighthawks were led by Rylee Mulligan with 17 points. Cailin Wilson and Nicki DaPra added 11 and 10, respectively; and DaPra drained a pair of 3-pointers. Olyvia Shaw pulled down 10 rebounds for Newtown.

The Rebels led 13-9 after one quarter of play, and the Nighthawks went up 22-18 at halftime. New Fairfield pulled back in front, 29-28 after three. The game was even at 37-37 heading into the four-minute OT. Newtown held New Fairfield to just a free throw in the extra stanza.

"Rylee Mulligan controlled the tempo and we had a great team effort defensively with multiple people hitting big shots," said Newtown Coach Jeremy O'Connell, adding that Alison Kelleher and Jackie Matthews were solid defensively.

"That's a big game for a maturing team," O'Connell said.

Against Masuk, Mulligan and DaPra each scored a dozen and Matthews scored five.

The Nighthawks led 14-4 after one quarter of play and 19-9 at halftime. The teams continued to go back and forth in the third quarter, which ended with the Hawks ahead 28-16. The Panthers got the deficit down to nine and could have sliced the lead in half, but a second consecutive 3-point try was off the mark. Mulligan hit a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 31-19 and the Hawks finished the game on a 9-1 run.

"Every time they made a run we hit a big shot," O'Connell said.

Shaw had seven rebounds and three steals, Mulligan and DaPra each had five defensive rebounds, and Mulligan handed out five assists.

"We are moving in the right direction. We still have a lot of little things to shore up and work on as we get toward the end of the season, but we are definitely moving the right direction," O'Connell said.

In the New Milford game, DaPra led the way with 14, Cyleigh Wilson scored 12, and Shaw dropped in eight as 11 Hawks registered points. The Nighthawks sank 11 shots from 3-point range with Cyleigh Wilson draining four, and DaPra hitting three.

The Nighthawks host Pomperaug on Friday, February 10, at 7 pm, and close out the regular season with a visit to Notre Dame-Fairfield on Tuesday, February 14, also at 7 pm.