JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Senior forward Whitney Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) tallied her first career double-double with a career-high 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (8-0, 5-0 South Atlantic Conference) to a 57-52 victory over the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (3-5, 2-3 SAC) Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse.
"We knew that we had a size advantage tonight going in with their biggest player being 5'11," Kyle said. "We kept saying 'throw it into the post' so I think that was a big game plan of ours."
A slow start allowed Lenoir-Rhyne to start the game on an 8-0 run as Carson-Newman missed its first six shots from the floor before responding with a 12-2 run to take its first lead of the game at 12-10 on three-pointer from junior guard Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) with 9:34 to play in the first half.
The lead would change hands five times in the first half before the Lady Eagles were able to head into the locker room with a 30-27 lead on a three-pointer with 18 seconds to play by junior forward Taylor Peterson (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.).
Carson-Newman struggled from the floor in the second half converting just 29 percent of its field goal attempts and not making a shot from beyond the arc, but the Lady Eagles capitalized on 11 free throw attempts by making all 11 while Lenoir-Rhyne went just 4-for-11 from the charity stripe in the game.
The Lady Eagles led the entire second half, but things got tight late as Jenni Gust buried a triple with exactly one minute to play to make it a 51-50 game. On the ensuing possession Gust, who finished with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting, fouled out to send Kyle to line for a one-and-one. Kyle converted both free throw attempts to extend the lead to 53-50.
Senior guard Lacy Miller (Dandridge, Tenn.) converted four free throws in the final 17 seconds of the game to seal the deal for the Lady Eagles.
"L-R is a good team," head coach Mike Mincey said. "They have two players on the first team All-Conference team preseason. I knew they could come back. They have been there before and done it. I'm happy that Lacy stepped up there and made those free throws."
Freshman forward Jecca Simerly (Talbott, Tenn.) notched her second career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The reigning SAC Player of the Year, Jazmine Charles, was the only other player to finish in double figures for the Bears as she finished with 12 points on 5-for-19 shooting.
The Lady Eagles will play their last home game of the 2014 calendar year Monday night at 6 p.m. against King (Tenn.). The game will be broadcast on 106.3 WPFT-FM or on cneagles.com/live.
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