WISE, Va. – Lindsey Taylor scored a season-high 27 points, all in the second half, and Addison Byrd joined the 1,000-point club powering Carson-Newman's fourth-quarter surge to blast UVA Wise 81-64 in South Atlantic Conference play Wednesday at the Prior Center.
Taylor was suspended for the first half of the game by the conference but did not come off of the floor in the second half scoring 27 of the team's 47 points after halftime. The Maryville, Tenn. native went 12-for-14 from the field grabbing eight rebounds.
"The stats tell it all," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "We were getting outscored in about every category in the first half especially in the paint. By the time we flip it in the second half we lead 34-32 and she plays all 20 minutes. It's clear as day what she meant to our basketball team and what she meant in the paint. I am proud of the kids. They fed it to her and she made 12 of 14 shots. We didn't have her in the first half but she did a number in the second half."
Byrd became the 29th playing in school history and ninth to play under a Mike Mincey coached club to record 1,000 career points scoring 14 off of the bench on six of seven shooting adding six boards. Her milestone points came on a triple with under a minute to play in the first quarter.
"It feels pretty good but I wouldn't get there without my coaches and my teammates," Byrd said. "I didn't feel any pressure tonight. I knew Lindsey was out the first half so we needed another offensive threat. If I am open then I need to shoot more."
�� @19LindseyTaylor dominates the second half
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) December 9, 2021
�� Clutch second half
✅ @CNwbasketball double-digit win over UVA Wise pic.twitter.com/U9nXySwsry
Only five Lady Eagles scored in the game with four hitting double digits. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) moved past two more plays on the school's scoring list and into No. 21 with 15 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) racked up 17 points with six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Skylar Boshears (LaFollette, Tenn.) was the only other player to score finishing with eight points collecting five caroms.
Carson-Newman (7-2, 5-1) improves to 6-0 in the all-time series with UVA Wise (3-6, 3-4) beating the Cavalier by double digits for the fifth time handing the club their first home loss of the season.
The Lady Eagles missed 11 of their first 14 shots from the field falling behind 15-8 before Byrd hit the three-pointer and a pull-up jumper to close the gap to trail 17-13 after 10 minutes of play.
Carson-Newman found a shooting stroke to start the second using a 17-5 burst to build a 30-22 lead behind a trifecta from Penland with 5:18 to play before the half. However the Lady Eagles failed to score for nearly three minutes allowing the Cavs to score 10 of the next 12 and knot the margin at 32 with 1:26 to play. Byrd hit a left elbow jumper in the waning seconds of the first half to give C-N a 34-32 edge at halftime.
Mincey's crew stretched the margin back to eight with 3:09 to go in the third behind a 6-0 surge but the Cavaliers closed the gap to four at 61-57 going into the final frame. C-N shot 60 percent from the field but Wise made all 10 of its foul shots.
In the fourth, the Lady Eagles scored the first nine points and outscored Wise 20-7 in the period leading by as many as 20 before the Cavs snapped a nearly six minute scoring drought with a three-pointer in the waning moments. All told, the Lady Eagles shot 61 percent in the second half.
Caitlyn Ross led the way for the home club scoring 18 points, 14 coming in the third quarter, with six rebounds and three steals. Jaymie Golden chipped in a dozen and Kalee Johnson and Nia Vanzant each tallied 11 points.
The Cavaliers were held to 32 percent shooting from the floor shooting below 33 percent in three of the four frames. Wise is 20-9 at home over the last three campaigns, two of those losses have come to the Orange and Blue.
The Lady Eagles continue their road swing on Saturday at 2 p.m. travelling to Eleazer Arena for a contest against Newberry with broadcast coverage airing on the Eagle Sports Network 15 minutes before tip with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off".
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