VIDEO: Tori Rutherford Interview
WINGATE, N.C. – Ending a four-game losing streak on the road, Carson-Newman (12-5, 6-3 SAC) played phenomenal defense to complete the regular season sweep of Wingate (11-6, 6-3 SAC), winning 70-59 on Saturday afternoon inside Cuddy Arena.
Carson-Newman's defense forced Wingate to shoot its second lowest percentage from the field this season at 29%. Wingate's 59 points were also its second lowest in a game this season. The Lady Eagles blocked a season-high eleven shots, its most in a game since swatting 11 shots against King last season.
"I'm super proud of our effort to come on the road and win at a place that is tough to win," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "To hold them to 59 points and to hold them to such a low percentage at their home was excellent. Our team feels like we can guard just about anybody. These types of games I think can be a turning point for a team because it was an exciting game and we finished a game on the road. This could be a game that catapults our confidence moving forward."
Prior to today's victory, the Lady Eagles had lost nine of their last ten road games. The road win is the second now this season.
Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) led C-N in scoring with 20 points and nailed a team-high four three-pointers. The 20-point effort is the 64th time she has achieved that mark or better this season. Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) recorded her sixth double-double of the season and 21st of her career, going for 11 points and 11 rebounds. Her defense was impactful as well, tying her career-high with four blocks.
Carson-Newman used an 8-0 scoring run to jump out to the early 10-3 lead with six and a half minutes left in the first quarter. Wykle and Taylor combined to score the team's first 14 points. The Bulldogs scored six of the final seven points and led by four after the first quarter.
After a Wingate three early in the second quarter, the Lady Eagles responded with an 11-0 scoring burst. Six of those points came from Keeleigh Rogers (Farragut, Tenn.) and C-N led by six with 6:38 until halftime. The Bulldogs settled back in and tied the game with 1:44 to go after a Hannah Clark three-pointer. The Lady Eagles ended the first half on a strong note, as Ashlan Crittenden (Charleston, Tenn.) and Kali McMahan nailed their first three-pointers of the season to put Carson-Newman up by three at intermission.
"We have an extremely deep bench," Mincey said. "We've struggled to find the right mixture of players together. I gave Ash (Ashlan Crittenden) an opportunity on the road and I thought she took advantage of it. Kali can score and shoot it. You can look at those two three-pointers as a huge part of the game that helped give us that lead at halftime.
Mincey's crew used that momentum and built the lead to seven after Rutherford and Wykle three-pointers two minutes into the third quarter. WU had an answer again, scoring the next six points to draw within one. The Lady Eagles got another scoring burst in the period by Rutherford alone. She scored a layup, three-pointer, and another layup in consecutive possessions to go up by nine.
"I knew with Lindsey and Braelyn off the floor, someone was going to have to step up," Rutherford said. "Coach Mincey has talked about how others need to step up because teams are going to guard Braelyn and Lindsey so hard. I just took it upon myself to step up and try to do my best, whether it be on offense or defense."
Rutherford tied her season-high, scoring 13 points for the second straight game. She stuffed the stat sheet grabbing seven rebounds, a team-high three steals and two blocks.
The Lady Eagles started the fourth period with a pair of triples from Makayla Alvey (Dandridge, Tenn.) and Wykle to secure its largest lead of the day at 12. It was a defensive minded quarter on both ends. C-N didn't make another basket in the game but made eight free throws the rest of the way to win by 11. After a pair of Emily Hege buckets, Wingate didn't make another field goal until the final seconds, when the game was out of reach. Carson-Newman's defense forced Wingate to shoot 3-17 in the final quarter to secure the 70-59 victory.
"This team can just defend," Rutherford said. "It's crazy honestly because we all have so much pride and don't want anybody scoring. We go against each other every day in practice and we know that if you want to keep your spot on the floor, you have to defend."
Rutherford, Taylor and Wykle combined for 44 points but several others had their impacts felt. Rogers scored nine points and had nine rebounds. Alvey had six points and a team-high five assists. Four other players made at least one basket as well.
The Lady Eagles defense helped them overcome 35% shooting from the field and 29% shooting from beyond the arc. Despite the low percentage, C's nine triples were second most in a game this year.
Hege led the Bulldogs with 21 points, making eight of her 22 shots. Clark scored 11 but took 17 shots.
Carson-Newman continues its road trip on Wednesday against Emory & Henry. Broadcast coverage airs on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and cneagles.com/live starting at 7:15 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.
