JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman missed 22 layups producing its second-lowest shooting percentage of the season in a 72-63 setback to 18th-ranked and South Atlantic Conference leading Anderson Wednesday night at the Abney Athletic Center.
The Lady Eagles went 16-for-38 around the rim while tallying a 31 percent clip overall from the field that included just four three-pointers. It is the second time that Carson-Newman (18-6, 11-5) gets swept in a season series by the Trojans and first since the 2011-12 campaign.
Mincey sees his team's seven-game winning streak on the road, the 10th-best in Division II, come to an end while falling to 12-7 against ranked teams and 3-2 on the road. C-N had not lost on the road since Dec. 1.
Anderson (22-2, 16-0) extends the fourth-longest winning streak in the country to 20 games winning its 17th straight home game.
Mincey's crew scored the first six points of the game before Ace Easter buried a jumper at the 7:35 mark starting a 6-0 burst to tie the score over the first four minutes. The Lady Eagles went icy not making a shot from the floor for a stretch of 6:37 watching the Trojans rip off 15 of 16. Madison Baggett buried a left wing triple at the end of the period to put the home club ahead 20-11.
Down by 10 with 5:41 to play in the first half, C-N scored six straight to make it a four-point game with 3:43 to play in the half. The Lady Eagles mustered just two points the rest of the half as Anderson closed on an 8-2 burst to take a 37-27 lead into the locker room.
It was the largest halftime deficit of the season for the Lady Eagles as they produced their lowest scoring half of the year matching the 27-point first half at Tusculum on Jan. 16. C-N shot 31 percent from the field and missed a trio of foul shots.
1⃣ @AddisonByrd3 tallied her first-career double-double but @CNwbasketball's upset bid at @AUTrojansWBB. pic.twitter.com/AN9BTxJqUT
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) February 14, 2019
Over the first three minutes of the second half, C-N pulled within three on foul shots from Briana Smith (Nashville, Tenn.). The Lady Eagles could never claw closer in the third as the deficit was nine at 51-42 entering the fourth.
The bulge swelled to a game-high 15 points following a layup from Erika Martin with 5:45 to go in the game. The Lady Eagles were able to surge pulling within six at 65-59 with 1:32 to go on a driving layup by Haris Price (Gatlinburg, Tenn.). It was the closest the visitors got the rest of the way failing to make a shot from the floor for the next minute as Alexy Mollenhauer made foul shots.
Price moved up to eighth on the school's scoring list passing Coreen Wells (1984-88) to bring her career total to 1,269 behind 26 points. She added six rebounds going 11-for-25 from the field.
Carson-Newman saw a pair of players record double-doubles for the first time since Nov. 28, 2018 at Lincoln Memorial, a span of 17 games. Kayla Marosites (Elizabethton, Tenn.) finished with 10 points and 10 boards and Addison Byrd (Nashville, Tenn.) registered the first one of her career with 10 points and 11 boards.
Smith scored 10 points and had seven rebounds as the visitors did not get a point from the bench as the trio of players to come off of the pine combined for 36 minutes, one rebound, one assist and two steals.
Mollenhauer led all scorers in the game with 20 points and 13 rebounds while Ace Easter scored 19, 15 of which came in the first half. Erika Martin provided 18 points off of the bench, 12 coming in the second half. Baggett had six points, four assists and 12 boards.
Despite being outrebounded by 10, the Lady Eagles had more second-chance points at 12-11 and points in the paint at 38-30.
The Lady Eagles hit the hardwood again on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. with a road trip to Salisbury, N.C. against the Catawba College Catawba Indians on the docket.
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