JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In a back-and-forth affair that featured 12 lead changes and seven ties, two teams traded blows before Wingate closed the game on a 5-0 burst to upend No. 19 Carson-Newman 81-76 on Saturday at Holt Fieldhouse in South Atlantic Conference action.
"We got off to a bad start," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "I don't feel like it was a good start. Some energy came in with the second group. In the second quarter we got the lead out to nine and there was some unfortunate events on our part - not playing physical enough, not going after boards the right way, not going after loose balls. It seemed like every time we didn't get the rebound or a loose ball, Wingate made us pay with a bucket. That lead evaporated pretty quickly.
"We haven't lost a ton here but when we have lost it's probably because we haven't shot the three-ball well. Tonight we went five of 23. It's not like we have three-point shooters everywhere but when you take 23 of them and only make five that's not very good. We had some really good looks at it. They turn around and make shots and more threes then that's not going to set you up to be successful."
Down by two with four minutes to play, Carson-Newman committed a foul on a Jaia Wilson driving layup and a technical foul was assessed to the Lady Eagles allowing Wilson to score seven points in nine second and open up a 74-65 lead.
The home crew mounted a charge led by Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) who scored seven points during a 9-0 surge to deadlock the tally at 76 with 1:12 to play. After forcing a missed shot at the other end, Haleigh Brandon snatched down an offensive rebound, drew a foul and made two free throws.
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) missed two good looks at a go-ahead three-pointer on the next possession. Bryanna Troutman made one of two at the line with 14 seconds to play. Wykle had a game-tying three-point attempt partially blocked and Wilson made two foul shots to ice the game.
Carson-Newman (4-2, 2-1) had won each of the last three meetings with Wingate (5-1, 4-0) by at least 20 points as the Bulldogs secure their first win over the Lady Eagles since Nov. 30, 2019, also a contest at Holt Fieldhouse.
After resetting the program record with 13 blocked shots against Wingate on Jan. 23, 2021, 18 games and 309 days, C-N swatted 14 on Saturday with four players blocking at least two led by four from Sydney Pearce (Johnson City, Tenn.) and four from Taylor Goforth (Friendsville, Tenn.).
The Lady Eagles failed to score until the 7:39 mark of a first frame that featured five lead changes and a pair of ties. After Wingate rattled off six in a row to go on top 13-8, the Lady Eagles closed the quarter with seven in a row to go ahead 15-13 after a period.
Carson-Newman scored the first five points of the second stanza making it a 12-0 run all told to jump ahead 20-13. The margin stretched to nine on a layup from Boshears with 6:09 to go before halftime at 28-19. Wingate surged heading into the locker room scoring 16 off the final 22 points limiting the Lady Eagles without points for nearly a three minute sequence to go ahead 35-34 at halftime.
In the third period, the Bulldogs converted on 29 percent of its field-goal attempts but made seven free throws to maintain a lead for much of the frame. The Lady Eagles scored four in a row to jump out 54-51 before Brandon hit a deep two-pointer at the end of the period to make it a one-point game going into the fourth.
Wykle led all scorers with 24 points, 15 coming after halftime, going 11-for-21 from the field adding five assists and four rebounds. The junior was one of four players in double figures with the other three coming from the bench.
Tori Rutherford (Rutledge, Tenn.) added a dozen with four assists and the duo of Addison Byrd (Nashville, Tenn.) and Penland each posted 10. Skylar Boshears (Lafollette, Tenn.) filled up the stats with nine points, six rebounds and five assists. Pearce grabbed eight boards and swatted four shots.
Troutman led the way for the Bulldogs with 18 points, nine in the fourth, with five boards, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Lauren Sullivan tacked on 161 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Wilson added 15 points off of the pine going 10-for-11 at the stripe with five assists and three boards.
Wingate assisted on 24 of 26 made field goals while the Lady Eagles had 24 on 32 made shots but went 5-for-23 from the three-point arc. C-N forced 19 turnovers leading to 29 points off of those giveaways. C-N had three total turnovers in the second half and one in the final 10 minutes.
The Lady Eagles continue their home swing in the Volunteer State with a 5:30 p.m. contest on Wednesday hosting Lenoir-Rhyne in Holt Fieldhouse. Broadcast coverage airs on the Eagle Sports Network starting at 5:15 with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off".
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