JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles basketball team (12-7, 6-6 South Atlantic Conference) fell to the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (13-6, 8-3 South Atlantic Conference) by a 55-49 score at Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Eagles led by eight at halftime, only to see the Bears open the second half on a 15-2 run and outscore Carson-Newman 40-26 in the second half for the six-point victory.

"Lenoir-Rhyne played much better to start the second half," said Carson-Newman head women's basketball coach Mike Mincey. "Unfortunately this has been the story of our season. We lead or are tied at halftime and we come back and give up big runs. It's just something that's happened to us all year and we've got to figure out a way to correct it."

For the first time in the regular season, no Lady Eagles scored in double-digits, and senior Courdne Miles (Burlington, N.C.) led Carson-Newman in scoring with 9 points.

The Lady Eagles never trailed in the first half, opening the contest on a 7-3 run. Carson-Newman held Lenoir-Rhyne to 21 percent shooting from the field in the first half, along with forcing 10 turnovers. The Lady Eagles enjoyed a 23-15 lead at halftime.

The Bears quickly built a 15-2 run to begin the second half to take a 30-25 lead with 15:11 left in the game. Carson-Newman answered back with a 9-4 run to cut the L-R lead to 35-34 with 12 minutes left in the game. The Bears responded with a 6-0 run to lead 41-34 with 9:27 to go.

In the final minutes, junior Shyra Clark (Cleveland, Tenn.) made back-to-back baskets with 2:13 to go to cut the Bears' lead to 50-47. After L-R added to its lead with a Caroline Laughter free throw, Carson-Newman got to within two thanks to a Whitney Moody (Blountville, Tenn.) layup to cut the score to 51-49 with 34 seconds to play.

Clark then picked up a steal and was fouled with 9.4 seconds remaining in the game. Clark, with a chance to tie the game if she could make both shots, missed both of her chances and Lenoir-Rhyne recovered the rebound.  The Bears hit necessary foul shots in the final seconds to finish with the six-point victory.

The loss is Carson-Newman's third straight at home. The Bears were led in scoring by Nneka Awuronye with her 14 points, and Krystal Patton added 13 for L-R.

Carson-Newman will finish its three-game homestand on Wednesday Feb. 13 against Mars Hill at 6 p.m. Coverage of the game is available on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network, beginning with the Farm Bureau Countdown to Tipoff at 5:45 p.m. and the broadcast is also available on www.cneagles.com.