JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Haris Price notched a career-high 39 points going 16-for-20 from the field to pace Carson-Newman to its fifth straight victory 90-77 over South Atlantic Conference foe Catawba Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse.
"I struggled the first half of the season finishing the way I want to," Price said. "I think this whole since Christmas break, I have tried to focus on finishing around the rim. Tonight they just fell for me. The last time we played in this gym we lost. This is our home floor and we want to defend it. That's what motivated us."
Price passes her previous high of 38 points while moving up to 21st on the team's scoring mark with 1,053 points now for her career at C-N.
The triumph for Carson-Newman (11-3, 4-2) is the fifth consecutive over Catawba (7-5, 2-3) marking the longest winning streak in the history of a series that dates back to 1990.
In the game, C-N shot at least 50 percent in each of the four quarters finishing with a season-high 55 percent clip for the game.
"The first half we had a lot of foul trouble," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "Four of our five starters had two fouls and we sat them most of the second quarter. I am really proud of the bench how they extended the lead and did a really good job. They kept that percentage up. When we came out in the third and fourth quarters, our starters were rested and had fresh legs. It was nice to see us shoot the ball well and get easy buckets at the rim."
Mincey's crew missed their first six shots from the field falling behind 7-2 at the outset before responding by making five in-a-row and using a 9-2 spurt to go on top 11-9 four minutes into action. C-N made 10 of its final 13 shots from the floor overall in the stanza to hold a 26-23 edge after the opening 10 minutes.
Catawba tied the tally at 29 just over a minute into the second quarter before C-N held the Indians scoreless for nearly four minutes scoring seven straight to open up a seven-point lead at 36-29. A late layup from Haris Price (Gatlinburg, Tenn.), two of her 21 first-half points, pushed the margin to a half-high eight points at 46-38 going into the locker room.
A triple from the left wing by Kayla Marosites (Elizabethton, Tenn.) expanded the margin to a dozen at 54-42 three minutes into the second half. The Indians surged scoring seven straight in 52 second to pull within five at 54-49 with 5:07 to go in the third.
After a Mincey timeout, the home side score seven unanswered and used an 11-2 run to make it 65-51 with 2:43 to play in the third. Entering the fourth it was a 13-point game at 69-56.
Each team has segments of nearly four minutes without points in the fourth quarter as C-N shot 62 percent to put the finishing touches on its 11th win of the season.
Kayla Marosites finished with a double-double for the fifth straight game with 18 points and 14 rebounds on the day. Addison Byrd (Nashville, Tenn.) was the only other player to finish in double figures as she scored 16 points and pulled in six rebounds.
Elizabeth Webb led the way for Catawba with 19 points in 37 minutes while Talia Barnes and Shemya Stanbeck added 14 and 11 points respectively.
The Indians did collect 12 offensive rebounds leading to 17 second-chance points and scored 27 points off, a season-high allowed by the Lady Eagles, off 20 turnovers.
The Lady Eagles take on league-leading and 22nd-ranked Anderson Wednesday night at home at 6 p.m. looking to take a fourth straight contest against the Trojans.
3⃣9⃣ points for @HarisJordan, a career high
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) January 5, 2019
5⃣5⃣ percent shooting, a season high
5⃣ straight @CNwbasketball wins over Catawba pic.twitter.com/xQzR2XtoPs
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