VIDEO: Tori Rutherford Interview
WISE, Va. – Braelyn Wykle scored a game-high 34 points and Harli Smith flirted with a triple-double as Carson-Newman pulled away from UVA Wise to win an eighth straight South Atlantic Conference contest Wednesday evening at the Convocation Center, 92-71, over the Cavaliers.
"We played fast and got up and down the floor," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "When you shoot as well as we did in the first half. I think we hit seven threes in the first half. They were feeling it and sharing the ball. Clearly we have some really good players out there. Multiple players were playing well and I really like our tempo and how we were getting the ball up and down the floor."
The eight-game winning streak in league play for the Lady Eagles is the longest stretch for the group since winning nine in a row in January and February of 2018. Carson-Newman (13-6, 8-1) beats UVA Wise (13-8, 4-6) for a 10th meeting in a row to start the series and for the ninth time by double digits.
Wykle tallied her seventh 30-point scoring output of her career crossing over the 1,900-point mark for her career along the way. In the Greeneville, Tenn. native's fifth straight 20-point scoring game, she went 13-for-20 from the field and made six of eight from long distance.
Smith finished two assists shy of the first triple-double by a Lady Eagles since 2014 ending with a season-high 15 points and career highs of 11 rebounds and eight assists making five of seven from the field. The Jamestown, Tenn. native has scored in double figures in her last three.
Keeleigh Rogers (Morristown, Tenn.) racked up 13 points and nine rebounds and Tori Rutherford added 11 points and four assists off of the bench. Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and six assists.
"Honestly I think it took us a bit to get going with us not playing Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday," Rutherford said. "Coach Mincey reminded us all week that we have to get after it and play hard. I felt like in that second quarter we got together and said 'let's go and put it down their throarts'. We finally did and went on a pretty big run in the second and third quarters."
Carson-Newman drilled a dozen three-pointers in the game, tied for the second-most by the team in an affair this year. The Lady Eagles were averaging 69 points per game on the road this year entering play on Wednesday.
�� Near triple-double by @harli_smith
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) January 26, 2023
�� Season-high point output on the road
8️⃣ straight SAC wins for @CNwbasketball pic.twitter.com/nLduEuk3yZ
After scoring the first points of the game, Carson-Newman went nearly three minutes without points allowing the Cavs to score the next seven. The Lady Eagles did not get the lead back until the four-minute mark on free throws by Wykle taking a 24-21 edge into the second.
Mincey's team exploded in the second stanza opening on a 16-2 scoring surge, the final 10 points unanswered opening up a 19-point lead at the 3:36 mark. Wise closed the half on a 10-4 run to trim the deficit to 53-40 going into halftime. The Lady Eagles scored a season-high for the second quarter with 29 points while posting their highest first half scoring total of the year.
Behind an 11-3 run, the visitors built a 24-point lead at 76-52 on a trifecta by Wykle at the 2:54 point of the third period. UVA Wise answered with an 11-0 scoring surge to trim the deficit to 13 before Rogers tickled the twine in the waning seconds to put C-N ahead 79-63 going to the fourth.
The scoring run bled into the fourth quarter scoring the first 10 of the period to blow open an 89-63 advantage with 5:07 to go. Wise went 2-for-16 from the field in the final 10 minutes as C-N secured a 20-point victory.
Caitlyn Ross scored 15 of her team-high 22 points in the second half adding seven assists, five rebounds and three steals. Katlin Burger added 14 points and eight boards while Leah Kestner posted 10 points.
The Lady Eagles return to the friendly confines on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. against Lincoln Memorial. Broadcast coverage airs on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and cneagles.com/live starting at 5:15 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.
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