JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Shooting at least 60 percent in three of the four quarters, Carson-Newman won a fifth consecutive game burying 55 percent from the floor in a 93-65 dismantling of Coker Monday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse in South Atlantic Conference action.
"Statistically most coaches would be very happy with what you see," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "I can't say that I was happy throughout the game especially at the half. I didn't feel like we were playing a clean basketball game. We were getting outrebounded. Coker was playing well and shooting well but some of that is on us. We aren't defending well enough and getting beat off of the bounce. The way the stats lay out, at the end of the day you have to be happy with the win."
For the fifth straight meeting at Holt Fieldhouse, the Lady Eagles scored at least 90 points beating the Cobras for the 12th meeting in a row. Carson-Newman (14-3, 12-2) has won all eight affairs against Coker (3-9, 2-8) in games at Mossy Creek.
Five players finished in double figures for the home side for the first time since Nov. 20. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) led the way scoring 20 of her game-high 22 points in the first half finishing the day 8-for-16 from the floor. The junior slid past Briana Smith for No. 12 on the school's all-time scoring list bringing her tally to 1,278 points.
With 54 points in the paint, the post players shined for Mincey's crew. Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) tallied 21 points making eight of 12 from the field adding a team-high eight rebounds and a pair of rejections. Sydney Pearce (Johnson City, Tenn.) tallied her first double-digit scoring effort since the 2020 SAC Quarterfinals posting a career-high 16 points making eight of 10 from the floor chipping in six boards and two block.
Skylar Boshears (Lafollette, Tenn.) added 15 points and five assists and Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) tossed in 10. Despite only scoring two points, Addison Byrd (Nashville, Tenn.) dished out a career-high eight assists. Abby Wilson (Kingston, Tenn.) recorded eight points and four assists.
"Two of the last three games Byrd hasn't shot the ball well but it was nice to see her tonight lead us in assists and steals," Mincey said. "A lot of those steals led to her assists to Skylar getting those run out layups. I was really happy with Abby. We stretched it out when she hit back-to-back threes. Her assist-to-turnover ratio has been off the charts."
For the day, the Lady Eagles scored 31 points off of 23 Cobra giveaways as the team racked up 29 assists on 38 made field goals.
�� 55 percent shooting
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) January 17, 2022
�� Career-high 16 points for @sydneypearce52
1️⃣2️⃣ straight @CNwbasketball wins over Coker pic.twitter.com/hl5yt39jOP
Both teams shot north of 55 percent in the first quarter with the score changing hands four times with four ties. Coker captured an 18-16 edge with 3:53 to go in the opening period. The Lady Eagles answered back by closing on an 11-2 burst to take a 27-20 lead after 10 minutes.
The surge carried into the second stanza with Carson-Newman using a 24-4 overall rally, the final 11 unanswered, to open up a 40-22 advantage less than four minutes into the second. A trifecta by Wykle in the closing seconds of the half sent C-N into the locker room leading 52-37 after shooting 62 percent.
Neither team scored more than five points in a row in the third with C-N making three of its first four shots before going 4-for-16 in the final eight minutes of the quarter. Penland drilled a triple from the left point with 15 seconds to play to make it a 69-52 lead going to the fourth.
Coker went nearly eight minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter missing 11 straight shots as C-N used a 22-6 burst to build out its largest lead of the game of 31 on a layup by Pearce before settling on the final margin of 93-65.
Ashauntee Nelson paced the visitors with 13 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes. Raya Coley was the only other double-digit scorer with a dozen points as three others had eight or nine points.
The Lady Eagles continue their two-game homestand on Wednesday for the first meeting with Emory & Henry at 5:30 p.m. Broadcast coverage airs on radio at Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and with video and audio streams on cneagles.com/live starting at 5:15 p.m.
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