VIDEO: Mike Mincey Interivew

SALISBURY, N.C. – The fourth-seeded Catawba Indians (18-10) defeated the No. 5 seed Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (19-10) 79-52 Wednesday evening at Goodman Gym to knock the Lady Eagles out of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament.

"We just didn't withstand their push in the first half," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "We had a chance but we let them go on that run there to get it to 20 to come into the break. We hadn't played really good basketball and points off of turnovers had been kind of a killer again against Catawba. Catawba came out really inspired trying to get back to the semis."

Catawba was assessed a technical foul for a broken shot clock prior to tip-off to give the Lady Eagles a 2-0 lead before the ball was tipped. After the teams traded baskets, the Indians used a 9-0 spurt to take an 18-6 advantage with 12:17 to play in the first half. The Lady Eagles trailed by as many as 18 points before cutting the lead to 13 with 4:29 to play in the opening stanza. A 7-0 close to the half gave Catawba its largest lead at the time at 41-21, Carson-Newman's largest halftime deficit this season.

Catawba's Jada Huntley scored 20 points in the first 20 minutes while collecting five rebounds and three assists.

Carson-Newman turned the ball over 10 times that led to 18 points off of turnovers for Catawba.

"At that point because it had been a real struggle offensively for us," Mincey said. "We couldn't get anything going. It was one of those games where I thought Catawba played really well and really hard in the first half. We just weren't playing our normal basketball."

The Lady Eagles came out of the locker room in a zone defense that slowed down the Indians offensive attack. An 8-2 start to the half coupled with a 1-9 shooting start for Catawba pulled the Lady Eagles with 14 at 43-29 3:35 into the second half.

Carson-Newman cut the deficit to 12 points on four occasions in the second half, but never could close the gap any further as a 24-2 turned a 51-39 Catawba lead into a 75-41 lead, the Indians largest lead of the game with 3:41 to play in the game. The Lady Eagles failed to score from the floor for a 5:42 sequence during that time.

Carson-Newman shot under 30 percent from the floor for the first time all season by going 15-for-56 from the floor for a 26.8 shooting percentage.

The Lady Eagles were led by junior guard Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) who had 17 points while sophomore guard Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) had 12 points and seven rebounds. Junior forward Taylor Peterson (Mount Juliet, Tenn.) had 11 points and six rebounds while freshman forward Jecca Simerly (Talbott, Tenn.) set a new career-high with 12 rebounds.

Huntley finished with a career-high 31 points to go along with 14 rebounds and four steals. Chloe Bully had five points and set a new career benchmark with nine assists.

Carson-Newman will learn its fate in the NCAA Tournament Sunday night at 10 p.m. as the NCAA hosts its Division II women's basketball selection show. Stay tuned to cneagles.com and @CNathletics on Twitter for the latest updates.

- CN -