DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Carson-Newman failed to score a point over the final 3:45 of the contest as North Georgia closed the contest on a 9-0 run to defeat the Lady Eagles 68-59 Wednesday night at Memorial Hall.
"We had some shots around the basket that we missed," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "We put them at the free-throw line and let them shoot uncontested 15 footers. We didn't play a very good basketball game tonight whatsoever. We found ourselves up late in the game. If you are going to score seven points in the fourth quarter you don't ever deserve to win a basketball game. It's a very poor performance by us and that's why we are walking out of here with a loss."
North Georgia (8-1) snaps a four-game losing streak to Carson-Newman (4-4) winning for the first time in the series since a 91-83 victory at home on Nov. 23, 2007.
The first half saw each team's largest lead of five points as C-N held a 16-11 advantage with 3:32 to play in the first frame before going on a scoring drought to end the stanza as North Georgia tied the game at 16.
After going 7-for-11 from the field in the first 10 minutes, UNG went 4-for-16 but made nine foul shots in 11 attempts to take a three-point lead, 34-31, into the locker room.
The score was tied seven times in the first 20 minutes while the lead changed hands on four occasions. North Georgia's Kelsey Hutchins led all scorers with 10 points thanks to six free throws. Sophomore Mika Wester (Newport, Tenn.) had eight points and four rebounds and redshirt-junior Katie Stubblefield (Alcoa, Tenn.) added eight points to lead the C-N charge.
North Georgia came out of halftime to take a 40-33 edge before Carson-Newman reeled off eight of the next 10 points in a three-minute segment to pull within one at 42-41. A three-pointer from the left corner by freshman Tori Griffin (Jefferson City, Tenn.) at the buzzer put the Lady Eagles ahead 52-50 entering the fourth quarter.
In the final stanza, C-N scored a season-low seven points in the quarter going 3-for-17 from the field. North Georgia made seven of 10 foul shots while the Lady Eagles did not attempt a shot from the stripe. With 3:45 to play in the game, Wester buried a three-pointer from the left wing to tie the score at 59. The Nighthawks outscored the Lady Eagles 9-0 the rest of the game to secure the win.
Wester notched her second career double-double going for 16 points and 10 rebounds to match Stubblefield's 16 points for the team-high. No other player scored in double figures as C-N dished out just six assists, the fewest this season for a team that ranked 11th nationally with an average of 19.4 per night.
A trio of Nighthawks scored 14 points as Hutchins, McKenzie Darrah and Amber Skidgel paced the team. Darrah added seven rebounds and Skidgel registered eight.
The Lady Eagles return to their home crib Saturday afternoon as the Queens (N.C.) Royals pay a visit to Holt Fieldhouse at 2 p.m. The Eagle Sports Network's coverage starts at 1:45 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM and online with audio and video streams on cneagles.com/live.
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