JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman used a 19-3 start and timely shooting to defeat Tusculum 76-66 Wednesday evening in South Atlantic Conference play at Holt Fieldhouse.
"We get the win," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "It was an ugly way to end the game though. There was a lot of turnovers both ways. It just wasn't a pretty game by us. I don't think we played very well. The free throws were bad. We didn't knock down shots. Are we happy to get the win? Absolutely. We will take it and we keep up with the other top teams."
Carson-Newman (8-5, 5-2) earns a win for the 53rd time in 70 all-time games against Tusculum (2-9, 1-6) while winning on its home floor for the 17th time in 21 chances in the series.
Carson-Newman climbed out to a 19-3 advantage with 5:25 to play in the opening quarter making eight of its first 11 shots from the floor. Overall in the frame, the Lady Eagles went 12-for-19, 63 percent, from the floor and scored 13 points off of 11 Tusculum turnovers to lead 28-13 after 10 minutes.
The second stanza saw the Lady Eagles make just one of their first 13 shots from the floor as Tusculum started the quarter on a 15-3 run to pull within 31-28 with 3:02 to play before the break. C-N pushed the lead to five points at 38-33 at halftime despite going 3-for-17, 18 percent, from the field in the second 10 minutes.
Sophomore guard Briana Smith (Nashville, Tenn.) led the home group with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting as the only player in double figures. Tusculum was led by 13 points from Maelyn Head in the first half making 3-for-5 shot attempts and 5-for-7 from the free-throw line.
The Lady Eagles missed seven of 14 free-throw attempts in the third quarter and shot just 33 percent from the floor but were able to extend the lead to 59-50 heading to the fourth stanza.
In the final frame, Tusculum pulled within nine at 62-53 with 6:24 to go on the night when C-N scored six straight in 60 seconds and pushed the lead to a game-high 16 points at 74-58 with 1:50 to play. The Pioneers reeled off eight straight in the next 1:20 before running out of time on the night.
In the final three quarters of the game, the Lady Eagles went just 12-for-42 from the floor over the final three quarters of the game but made nine three-pointers for the first time since Nov. 30, a string of six games.
Sophomore Mika Wester (Newport, Tenn.) led all scorers with 21 points on the night, her sixth 20-point effort in 2016-17. The forward also collected a game-high eight rebounds to go along with three assists, two steals and a block.
Senior guard Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, seven assists, a career-high five steals and four rebounds. She became the first player to have a five-steal game since Lacy Miller had five at Kentucky Wesleyan on Dec. 20, 2014.
Smith concluded the night with 15 points, four rebounds and a pair of pilfers.
Four Pioneers finished in double figures led by 14 points from Head as Callie Patterson added 13 and the combo of Morgan Depew and Kasey Johnson each posted 11 points.
Carson-Newman racked up 16 steals forcing 27 steals, the third-most this season by an Eagle opponent, converting those giveaways into 28 points.
The Lady Eagles welcome the Wingate Bulldogs to Holt Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. contest. The game will be broadcast on Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM and online with video and audio streams on cneagles.com/live beginning at 1:45 p.m. on the Eagle Sports Network with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off".
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