VIDEO: Campbell Penland Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Trailing by three at halftime in a rivalry matchup with Lincoln Memorial, Carson-Newman shot 50 percent in the final 20 minutes of play to pull away from the Railsplitters and win 67-58 Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse in South Atlantic Conference play.
"In the first half we didn't make a lot of shots obviously," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "We were three of 14 from the three. We were getting to the rim. LMU did a great job defensively. They were very physical with us. I think we weren't focused on making the shot. A lot of that is on us. They are a very good defensive group. Life was tough on us in the first half. They shot really great percentage wise in the first half and we were down around 25 but only down three. We had a lively discussion at the half."
The Lady Eagles run their winning streak to nine games in a row, the longest stretch since winning nine straight in 2018. Carson-Newman (14-6, 9-1) secured its fourth win in a row over Lincoln Memorial (13-8, 6-6), the best string since a span of seven straight from 2009-13.
After seeing its 332-game streak with a three-pointer snapped in the first meeting this year, the Orange and Blue buried 11, the fourth-most by the club on the year. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) led the charge with 22 points making six of nine from long distance.
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) added 18 points, all in the second half, for her 13th double-digit scoring effort of the season adding four rebounds and three assists.
"I was just trying to be patient in the first half," Penland said. "Obviously I didn't get anything to fall. Overall as a team we didn't do great in the first half. We knew at halftime we had to come out and get something started and that was just my mindset. Be patient and get something going."
Skylar Boshears (Lafollette, Tenn.) added nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Keeleigh Rogers (Knoxville, Tenn.) filled up the stat sheet with 10 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and two blocks and Harli Smith (Jamestown, Tenn.) added nine boards.
�� 3-Point sharpshooting
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 2, 2023
�� Second-half surge
�� @cjpen14 filling up the stats
4️⃣ @CNwbasketball wins in a row over LMU pic.twitter.com/w1Pr2GpDzg
After scoring the first five points of the game in the opening 30 seconds, Carson-Newman went the next 6:40 without points of the opening period as LMU scored 13 unanswered points. The Lady Eagles clawed within a 14-9 deficit after the lowest scoring first quarter of the year by the group. The Railsplitters scored 11 points off of eight turnovers in the quarter.
Mincey's unit was within a possession on multiple occasions in the second quarter with Wykle draining a trifecta at the buzzer to make it a 25-22 LMU lead at the break. C-N posted its lowest scoring half of the year shooting 24 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Adding to the Wykle triple, C-N scored the first seven out of the locker room and built up a 36-30 lead with 5:29 to play in the period. LMU scored the next seven and led 40-39 with 1:41 to play in the third. The Lady Eagles closed on a 7-0 run with Rogers banking in a 35-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to make it a 46-40 lead for the home group going into the fourth.
Once again, C-N opened the fourth with a surge expanding the bulge to 10 at 55-45 on back-to-back threes from Wykle. The 'Splitters pulled within six twice in the final three minutes but the Lady Eagles closed out the contest.
Alexa Smiddy paced all scorers with a game-high 34 points going 9-for-19 from the field and 11-for-15 at the free-throw line. She added three rebounds and two assists. No one else on the visiting side reach double figures as the rest of the team with 2-for-10 from deep in the contest.
The Lady Eagles hit the road on Saturday at 2 p.m. visiting No. 21 Catawba. Broadcast coverage airs on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and cneagles.com/live starting at 1:45 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.
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