JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the third time this season, Carson-Newman crested triple figures earning a 105-49 victory over Brevard at Holt Fieldhouse Wednesday evening in South Atlantic Conference play.
With three triple-digit games, Carson-Newman (18-9, 15-6) posts the second-most such outings in the history of the program joining the 1978-79 and 1987-88 group. The single-season record is four games with 100 or more points set in 1979-80.
"You look at the score and it can be misleading to some degree," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "I had written scores on the board of Brevard and who they have played of late. They were down 10 to Catawba at the half. They were down four at the half to Anderson a couple days ago. They lost by 12 at home to LMU. I think people that haven't seen Brevard play would be misled by the score.
"Our kids were really motivated and played hard after our loss at Wingate. We get snubbed out of the regional rankings after going on the road for two games beating Tusculum and losing to the fifth-ranked team in our region. I was kind of glad to see that because it gave them extra motivation to play hard."
The Lady Eagles picked up 23 steals as a team finishing one pilfer shy of the program's record set twice in November 2009 marking the 11th-most in Division II this season and most by a team in the Southeast Region. Sophomore Haris Price (Newport, Tenn.) earned a career-high seven steals while senior guard Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) added a career-high six.
Cienna Bryant and AnnaLee Bollinger buried triples in the first minute sandwiched around a C-N three-pointer, but the first 10 minutes saw the Lady Eagles shoot 57 percent and capture a 30-11 advantage.
Carson-Newman closed the first half on a 26-3 run over the final 6:59 to take a 60-20 lead into the break. The 60 points are the most in the first half of any game this season passing the 57 put up against Queens (N.C.) on Dec. 10, 2016 while the 40-point lead passes the 37-point margin against the Royals.
Sophomore Mika Wester (Newport, Tenn.) scored 17 points to lead all scorers in the first 20 minutes while Brooks registered 11. As a group, C-N shot 53 percent and scored 27 points off of 19 Brevard turnovers.
The Lady Eagles continued their success from the floor in third quarter making nine of their 16 shots attempted while beginning the stanza on a 14-1 run in the first four minutes of action. The Tornados scored 10 of the final 11 points in the final 1:51 of the third to make it an 82-36 game.
C-N made four of nine from three-point range in the final stanza while Brevard was held to 26 percent shooting going 5-for-19 from the field in the final 10 minutes as the home group closed out the contest.
Overall on the night Wester led all scorers with 19 points in 16 minutes of action missing just one of her eight shot attempts from the field. She was one of six players to register double-digits in points marking the second time this year that six or more players scored 10 or more.
Price added 15 points to her seven steals, four rebounds and three assists. Brooks put up 11 points and three rebounds to go along with her six takeaways.
Sophomore Ashton Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) netted a season-high 15 points making five three-pointers while picking up four rebounds and three steals.
Sophomore Briana Smith (Nashville, Tenn.) had 12 points and redshirt-junior Katie Stubblefield (Alcoa, Tenn.) add 10 points while matching a career-high with five assists.
Senior Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.) finished the night with nine points, eight rebounds and one block. The rejection put her in sole possession of third place on the school's all-time block list bringing her career tally to 129.
Madison Lenox paved the way for Brevard with 18 points and 13 rebounds while adding four steals, three assists and two blocks.
The Lady Eagles celebrate Senior Day Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. contest against Coker at Holt Fieldhouse. The broadcast coverage starts at 1:45 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on the Eagle Sports Network on 106.3 WPFT-FM and cneagles.com/live.
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