VIDEO: Kailyn Brooks Interview
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Kailyn Brooks moved into third place on the program's all-time made three-pointers list scoring 23 points to lead Carson-Newman to its sixth straight win over Queens (N.C.) 58-47 in South Atlantic Conference action Saturday afternoon at the Levine Center.
Brooks made a total of six triples bringing her career total to 182 as she passed Kandi Duncan's (1995-99) mark of 180 for third on the all-time list.
"It feels good," Brooks said. "I'm just enjoying the winning after the LMU game. To come up with a win today, I think that feels better than coming up with third place. I was attacking and had some good open looks and good kick-outs."
The 58 points for Carson-Newman (13-7, 10-4) are the third-fewest in a game this season as the Lady Eagles win while scoring 60 or fewer points for the 12th time in 40 tries in the last six seasons.
Queens (4-15, 4-10) was limited under its league-low season average as the Lady Eagles held a team to under 50 points for the fifth time in 2016-17.
"Overall we were very luck to come out with a victory," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "Our energy was low. Our halftime was bad in terms of the looks on their faces. As a coach I feel very fortunate that we were able to come out and win and go back to Jefferson City still trying to get in that top four."
Senior guard Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) scored 11 of C-N's 15 points in the opening 10 minutes as she buried a three-pointer four minutes into the contest to put the visiting squad ahead 12-4. The Lady Eagles failed to score over the next 5:15 as Queens went on a 6-0 spurt. A triple from Brooks ended the drought and had Mincey's team ahead 15-10 after the first quarter.
The three-pointer before the end of the first jumpstarted a 12-3 run to push the lead to 24-13 with 6:58 remaining in the half. A triple from Sarah Henson cut the margin to eight points but a 9-3 sequence from Carson-Newman pushed the advantage to 33-19 with three minutes to play. The halftime score saw the Lady Eagles ahead 35-22 thanks to nine second-quarter giveaways from Queens leading to 11 points.
No bench player scored for either side in the first half as Brooks led the way with 12 points and sophomore Mika Wester was the only other player in double figures for either side with 10.
Queens' leading scorer, McKell Oliverio, finished the first half with nine points and four rebounds making three of four from long range.
Carson-Newman started the third quarter by scoring eight of the first 10 points watching the lead balloon to a game-high 19 at 43-24. Queens used a 10-2 run to make it a 45-34 contest 44 seconds to play in the quarter.
Another scoring drought for Mincey's team, this one lasting nearly seven minutes from the end of the third to the early portions of the fourth allowed Queens to stay in the game but it never got within single digits. Despite making under 30 percent of its shots in the second half, C-N held on for the victory.
Brooks notched her 13th career 20-point scoring effort going 6-for-12 from the field finishing with 23 points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Wester tallied 14 points and five rebounds while junior forward Jecca Simerly (Talbott, Tenn.) matched a season high with 10 points coupled with six rebounds.
Oliverio notched 17 points going 7-for-12 from the field, Sarah Henson had 10 points and Maggie Stewart finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
The Lady Eagles return to Mossy Creek for their next contest as Mars Hill makes the trek through the mountains for a 6 p.m. contest on Wednesday night. Broadcast coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station 106.3 WPFT-FM and on cneagles.com/live with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off".
- CN -
