JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (19-9, 13-9 South Atlantic Conference) allowed season lows in points, 44, and field goal percent, 26.2 percent, in a 75-44 victory over the Newberry Wolves (18-10, 14-8 SAC) Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse.
"This last two games I think the kids are just really playing hard," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "We didn't change anything from when we played Newberry. They are just playing really hard on the defensive end, not giving up too many offensive rebounds."
The Lady Eagles came out soaring in the first half scoring the first 13 points of the game and 27 of the first 30 to race out to a 24-point lead. Newberry's first made field goal came at the 13:38 mark of the first half as Samantha Creed buried a three-pointer that snapped a string of eight straight misses.
Carson-Newman made 13 of its first 19 while Newberry converted on just 3 of its first 17 attempts. The Lady Eagles were led in scoring by freshman forward Jecca Simerly (Talbott, Tenn.) who had 13 points on 5 of 5 shooting in the opening half. Sophomore guard Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) had nine points and five assists for Carson-Newman.
Samantha Creed had 12 points and six rebounds as the Lady Eagles led 42-19 halftime, their third-largest halftime advantage of the season. Two-time All-SAC selection Haylee Lepaio went 0-for-3 in 10 minutes of first half action.
Newberry was able to close the gap to 16 points in the second half using a 12-2 run after Carson-Newman went ahead 45-19 to make it a 47-31 contest. The Lady Eagles finished the game on a 13-3 run to get their largest lead of the game at the final tally 75-44.
Junior forward Taylor Peterson (Mount Juliet, Tenn.) led all scorers with 21 points and tied for a game-high with nine rebounds. Simerly had 17 points, six rebounds and four assists while Brooks finished with 11 points and eight assists.
Senior forward Whitney Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) had eight points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal. Senior forward Jassmine Franklin (Lexington, Ky.) had two points, four rebounds and a pair of assists.
"It's a really big deal," Kyle said. "Some people counted us out whenever we had some adversity. Some people got injured and went out, but it's really exciting that we can still all come together with who we have and still get wins."
Creed had just three points after halftime to finish as the lone double figure scorer for Newberry with 15 points and six rebounds. Lepaio played 18 minutes to finish with two points, five rebounds and three turnovers on 1 of 6 shooting.
The 13th victory in conference play matches the most by a Lady Eagle team in 26 years as a member of the 26. The first year Carson-Newman was in the SAC, 1989-90, the Lady Eagles went 13-1 in conference play to win the regular season title during a 27-4 year in which they did not qualify for the NAIA Tournament.
"A lot of credit goes to Whitney, Lacy [Miller] and Franklin for their leadership for hanging in there with us as coaches and their teammates," Mincey said. "They continue to be leaders. I think when you have good leaders on your basketball team regardless of who you have out there you can still overcome the odds and still have a great season."
Carson-Newman earns the fifth seed in the upcoming SAC Tournament and will play at No. 4 seed Catawba on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on a game you can listen to by visiting cneagles.com/live.
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