VIDEO: Lindsey Taylor Interview
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Lindsey Taylor racked up her first double-double of the season and No. 21 Carson-Newman scored 37 points in the third quarter to build up a 32-point lead to blast Tusculum 94-68 to start South Atlantic Conference play Wednesday at Pioneer Arena.
"They came out and were shooting it well," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "I told the team that I would tip my cap to them if they would keep shooting deep threes and make them at a high rate. With our depth, I think it wore into them and fatigued them.
"Lindsey got going inside and got a lot of offensive rebound putbacks. Campbell got hot with some of those deep threes. Tori came in and gave us big minutes. I told the team there was sub with Taylor Goforth. I think when she came in, some really good stuff starting happening in the press. When that happens, we can get on a run because we have a pretty good team that can put 37 on the board."
Taylor produced the eighth double-double of her career finishing with a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds going 9-for-14 from the field and making eight of 14 at the free-throw line. The Maryville, Tenn. native added two steals in 23 minutes on the hardwood.
"We have that rivalry with Tusculum," Taylor said. "With them getting the [tournament] championship last year, we wanted to come out and get that win in the first conference game. We have such great guards that can shoot the ball and depth in the posts. We are really excited about it."
Carson-Newman (2-1, 1-0) won its fifth consecutive conference lid-lifter. The last six meetings had been decided by a total of 28 points before the Lady Eagles picked up their biggest win over Tusculum (1-2, 0-1) since winning by 37 on Jan. 21, 2015. It was the largest road win by the program since winning by 39, 94-55, on Jan. 26, 1999.
Overall in the matchup, the Orange and Blue shot 52 percent from the field and won the rebounding battle by 14, 42-28. C-N forced 21 turnovers and scored 24 points off of the giveaways getting 42 points in the paint.
Mincey's club continued its success on the road improving to 35-8 in conference road contests and 41-11 overall over the last five campaigns.
Three other players finished in double digits with freshmen Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) and Tori Rutherford (Rutledge, Tenn.) chipping in 16 each. Penland added six boards and two steals. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) added 14 while Addison Byrd (Nashville, Tenn.) filled up the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds and three assists.
�� 52 percent shooting
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) November 18, 2021
�� @cjpen14 with her third straight double-digit scoring night
�� Blow out of Tusculum
✌️ straight @CNwbasketball wins pic.twitter.com/nqnPm5OG1f
The Pioneers started the game 7-for-8 from the field jumping out to a 17-12 advantage with 4:18 to go in the opening period. The Lady Eagles responded by scoring nine of the next 11 holding the Pioneers without points for 3:17 but the home crew scored the final points of the stanza to tie the score at 21 in a frame that featured six ties and eight lead changes.
Carson-Newman scored the first eight points of the second stanza and opened up a 15-5 burst to open up the first double-digit lead of the game at 36-26 with 4:29 to go before halftime. Myajae Eubanks hit a bucket at the buzzer to make it a seven-point game going into halftime at 40-33. The Pioneers went 4-for-16 from the floor in the period and 5-for-19 in the final 12 minutes of the first half.
In the third period the Lady Eagles scored 37 points, the most in a period since scoring 40 against King in the first quarter on Nov. 13, 2019. C-N went 15-for-20 from the field in the frame and outscored the Pioneers by 23 using 9-0 and 10-0 bursts to build a 30-point advantage, 77-47, going into the fourth.
Tusculum found a rhythm in the fourth making 42 percent from the field and using a 7-0 burst to trim the margin to 90-68. Carson-Newman failed to make a field goal over the final 5:01 but made four foul shots to complete the win.
Three Pioneers finished in double figures led by 18 points from Mya Belton. Jalia Arnwine added 13 points, seven assists and four boards. Myajae Eubanks provided 11 points and five rebounds off of the bench.
After three games away from home, the Lady Eagles open the doors to Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip off against Queens to open a string where three of four games are played at Mossy Creek.
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