WINGATE, N.C. – Carson-Newman went 6-for-25 from the floor in the second half and scored just nine points in the fourth quarter as Wingate captured a 63-57 victory Saturday afternoon at Cuddy Arena.
Overall Carson-Newman shot 32.7 percent from the floor in the game, its second-lowest percentage on the season. The Lady Eagles were held to nine points in a quarter for the third time this year, their lowest in a frame in 2015-16.
"I thought some shots we had were good and makeable," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "I thought there were some shots that were open that we didn't take. People wanting to be unselfish but there were shots there. It got late in the shot clock and there were some shots that we forced. We didn't shoot the ball well to score."
Wingate scored a bucket off of the opening tip-off and scored the first six points of the game prompting a timeout from Mincey just 71 seconds into the contest. The two sides traded three-point plays and with the Lady Eagles trailing 12-6 used a 7-0 sequence capped by a triple from redshirt-freshman Kayla Newman (Alcoa, Tenn.) at 3:50 mark to take its first lead of the game.
After Wingate took a one-point lead Carson-Newman went on a 10-2 run extending from the 3:50 mark of the first quarter to the 6:08 point of the second quarter to capture a 23-16 advantage. The Lady Eagles led by as many as eight points in the first 20 minutes of action and led 33-27 at the break.
Junior guard Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) led all scorers with 11 points while senior guard Jai Jai McLaughlin (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored seven points and collected seven rebounds.
Wingate was led by 10 points from Kristina Rumplasch as she made all five baskets in half that saw five Bulldogs score.
The Bulldogs pulled within a point at 37-36 when a 9-0 spurt capped by a three-pointer from freshman guard Ashton Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.). Wingate closed out the frame on a 10-2 run to make it a slight 48-46 Carson-Newman advantage.
The home team finished a 16-3 overall run by taking a 52-49 lead early in the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Brooks immediately tied the score but a 9-0 Wingate run put the Bulldogs ahead 61-52 with 52 seconds to play in the game.
McLaughlin tallied her fifth double-double in a Carson-Newman with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the game. Brooks finished with a game-high 16 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists.
Wingate had a 34-12 advantage in points in the paint and saw four players score in double figures. Morgan McGee tossed in 15 points and six rebounds while Rumplasch finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Carson-Newman returns to Holt Fieldhouse Wednesday afternoon for a 6 p.m. start against Brevard. Broadcast coverage starts at 5:45 p.m. with the Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off on the Eagle Sports Network's cneagles.com/live and 106.3 WPFT-FM.
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