HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (13-3, 7-3 South Atlantic Conference) entered Saturday's game with the Coker Cobras (7-9, 3-7 SAC) ranked 32nd in the country in free throw shooting, but in a 68-61 loss at the DeLoach Center, head coach Mike Mincey's group went 6-for-14 or 43 percent from the stripe.
Coker led by as many as 13 points in the opening half, but Carson-Newman ended the initial stanza on a 15-4 run to tie the score at 28. Junior guard Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) buried a deep triple from the left side of the top of the key as time expired en route to 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting.
The Cobras made their first five shots and jumped out to a 14-2 lead, but the Lady Eagles locked down defensively as Coker converted just 7 of 28 shots from the floor the rest of the first half. Carson-Newman forced 12 turnovers which the Lady Eagles converted into nine points.
Carson-Newman was able to its only lead of the game at 33-32 at the 17:41 mark of the second half, but saw the Cobras go on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes.
The Lady Eagles did not allow that run to eliminate them as they fought and clawed back into the game to tie the score at 58 with 2:26 to play in the basketball game. On the ensuing possession, Tanesha Stenson knocked down a stepback three-pointer to give Coker the lead for good as the Cobras finished on a 10-2 run.
In the second half, the Lady Eagles went just 2-for-8 at the free throw line while Coker was 8-for-10 at the stripe including converting its last six attempts.
Burstrom finished with 21 points on 8 of 14 shooting with making 4 of 7 from distance, but for the first time in nine tries the Lady Eagles lost when Burstrom scored 20 or more.
The only other player to finish in double figures for Carson-Newman was senior forward Jasmine Poole (Harrisburg, Pa.) as she had a career-high 10 points and eight rebounds.
Stenson had a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds as she went 6-for-9 from the floor. Sydney Shull piled up 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc to go along with six rebounds.
The Lady Eagles return to Holt Fieldhouse Wednesday night to take on Tusculum at 6 p.m. in a contest that fans can listen to on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station 106.3 WPFT-FM or watch in high definition by visiting cneagles.com/live.
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