BREVARD, N.C. — The eighth-ranked Carson-Newman
women’s basketball team shot a season-high 55.8 percent
(48-of-86) from the floor en route to a convincing 114-64 victory
at Brevard on Wednesday night in South Atlantic Conference action
at Boshamer Gymnasium.
With the win, the Lady Eagles improve to 16-0 overall and 6-0 in
the conference, while the Tornados fall to 6-10 on the season and
0-7 in SAC play.
Lady Eagle head coach Dean Walsh reached a milestone with the
victory, as he picked up career win No. 150 at C-N. Walsh, who is
in his ninth season with the Lady Eagles, is now 150-101 at Mossy
Creek.
Walsh couldn't have been happier with the way his team shared the
wealth on Wednesday, as C-N dished out a season-high 27 assists and
five Lady Eagles reached double figures in scoring.
"I'm really pleased with how well we distributed the ball tonight,"
Walsh said. "Everybody that got on the court contributed. We had a
tremendous practice on Monday and we challenged them to play like
we practiced on Monday, and I thought we did that tonight."
Sophomore forward Zoriah Williams (Calera, Ala.) led the way for
C-N with 17 points and nine rebounds in just 16 minutes of
action.
Guards Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) and Candis Clear
(Memphis, Tenn.) netted 15 points apiece and dished out six and
four assists, respectively. Mendenhall and Clear also sank three
3-pointers each, as C-N connected on a season-high 12 threes on the
night.
Senior Ashley Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) contributed 12 points,
seven assists and seven steals, while senior forward Shari Buford
(Hampton, Ga.) added 10 points and six rebounds in the win.
Guard Holli Flippo (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) paced Brevard with 14
points, while Samantha Winn (Candler, N.C.) and Anna Schlobohm
(Greensboro, N.C.) tossed in 12 points each in the loss.
C-N turned in another solid effort on the defensive end as it held
Brevard to 33.8 percent (23-of-68) shooting and forced 26
turnovers. The Lady Eagles also controlled the boards,
outrebounding the Tornados, 50-38.
"I thought we rebounded the ball well and did a great job
defensively of disrupting everything they wanted to do on offense,"
Walsh said.
The Lady Eagles took control of the game early, connecting on nine
of their first 14 shots, as they built a 20-2 lead by the 14:51
mark.
C-N led by as many as 37 points in the half after Mendenhall
drained a 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining, but Brevard’s
Holli Flippo knocked down a three at the other end to make it a
54-20 ballgame at the break.
Brevard opened the second half with a 10-3 run to cut C-N’s
lead down to 27, but that would be as close as the Tornados would
get, as the Lady Eagles outscored Brevard 57-34 to close out the
game.
The Lady Eagles return to the court at home on Saturday in a key
SAC matchup with Lenoir-Rhyne. The Bears are just one game back of
C-N in the conference standings. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Holt
Fieldhouse.