HICKORY, N.C. – Lenoir-Rhyne (16-6, 9-3 SAC) took down No. 21 Carson-Newman (18-4, 7-4 SAC) by a 85-76 score Wednesday night at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium. Senior guard Brittany Mitch (McLean, Va.) scored a game-high 20 points as she went 9-for-12 from the free throw line to lead the Bears as they completed the regular season sweep of the Lady Eagles.

The teams battled back and forth over the majority of the first half before L-R went on a 5-0 run over the final 1:24 to of the frame to take a 40 to 31 lead to the locker room.

“We failed to accomplish the little things tonight,” said Head Coach Dean Walsh. “We missed way too many layups and committed too many turnovers in the first half. The fact that we were within nine points at halftime is surprising with the way we played.”

The Bears opened the second half with a 10-2 run to stretch their lead to 15 points at 50-35 with 17:26 remaining in the contest.

Carson-Newman fought back, outscoring Lenoir-Rhyne 10-1over a 2:10 period to cut the deficit to just three points on a jumper by junior guard Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) with 3:28 remaining. The Bears then made 8-of-10 free throws over the next three minutes to seal the 85-67 win.

“Our effort in the second half was a lot better, but when we cut it to three with less than four minutes to go and fail to box out on two straight possessions we kind of took ourselves out of it again,” continued Walsh. “If we had done that we were supposed to do there’s no telling how things would have ended up.”

Senior guard Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) added 17 points and eight rebounds while junior guard LaCourtney Rann (Charlotte, N.C.) chipped in 14 points in the L-R victory.
Sophomore guard Cameron Sealey (Gastonia, N.C.) came off the bench to score 11 points for the Bears.

Carson-Newman was led by senior forward Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) who put up her sixth-straight double-double, scoring 18 points to go along with a game-high 11 boards and four blocks. Senior guard Ashley Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) scored 19 points while Mendenhall added 14 points despite the loss for the Eagles.

“We just have to go home and make some corrections to get ready for a good Tusculum team on Saturday,” concluded Walsh.

Carson-Newman will return home Saturday to Tusculum in another South Atlantic Conference battle, also slated for Saturday at 6:00 p.m.