JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. –Haris Price scored 14 points and made four three-pointers in the fourth quarter as Carson-Newman missed just four of its 16 shot attempts in the final 10 minutes to defeat Mars Hill 88-61 in South Atlantic Conference play at Holt Fieldhouse Wednesday night.
"We knew it was going to be a battle towards the end of the game," Price said. "Coach kept saying if you don't pull ahead they will stick with you. I knew that we had to get a spark and thankfully it was me hitting some shots. We do a great job. When someone is hot, we find them and they knock it down."
Mars Hill (4-17, 2-13) committed 24 turnovers leading to 36 points for Carson-Newman (14-7, 11-4) in the contest as the Lady Eagles matched their season-high output in the fourth quarter with 32 points, also done in the season opener against USC Aiken.
"In the second quarter our press got a little bit lax and that gave them some opportunities," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "Our assist-to-turnover ratio is really good, close to top-10 in the country. One of the things that saves us is that we shoot the ball really well. When we take care of the ball and create chances we can score."
Mars Hill scored the first two points of the night only to turn the ball over six times in the next 2:38 and watch Carson-Newman reel off 10 unanswered points. The Lady Eagles made seven of their final 11 attempts from the field in the quarter to take a 25-12 advantage to the second stanza.
C-N had two scoring droughts that extended roughly three minutes each during the second frame as it shit just 38 percent from the field. Mars Hill went 8-for-8 at the free-throw line but failed to make a field goal over the final 4:33 of the half as the Lady Eagles went into the locker room leading 41-27.
Sophomore forward Mika Wester (Newport, Tenn.) scored 13 points and had four assists in the first 20 minutes. Senior guard Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) scored 12 points as she moved into sole possession of 17th place on the program's all-time scoring list.
After the home group scored the first two points of the third, Mars Hill scored six straight to trail by 10 at 43-33. A 7-0 spurt for the Lady Eagles pushed the lead to the largest at the time of 17 points at 52-35 with 3:02 to play in the stanza. Mars Hill answered with eight straight including back-to-back treys from Madison Ervin. The third quarter ended with C-N holding a 56-45 edge.
Price made all five of her shot attempts in the fourth and had eight of Carson-Newman's points during a 12-2 run to push the lead to 73-52 with 3:18 to play in the contest. Overall during a seven-minute sequence in the fourth C-N outscored Mars Hill 23-7 on its way to a victory.
Brooks led all scorers with 22 points to go along with five assists, a career-high five steals and three rebounds. Wester added 21 points, seven boards and five helpers.
Price scored in double figures for the first time in nine games, Dec. 14 versus Catawba, matching a career-high she set at Lee on Feb. 6, 2016 against North Alabama with four made triples. The sophomore added three assists and three rebounds.
Mars Hill saw three players score in double-digits led by 15 points from its leading scorer Paige Chavis who chipped in four rebounds and four assists. Aliyah Farmer had 14 points and five boards while Madison Ervin added 10 points and four caroms.
Four of the next five are on the road for C-N as it treks to Catawba Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. tip-off. 106.3 WPFT-FM and cneagles.com/live have the audio calls starting at 1:45 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on the Eagle Sports Network.
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