VIDEO: Braelyn Wykle Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Dominating from start to finish, Carson-Newman (17-7, 11-5 SAC) remained unbeaten at home with a 103-43 defeat of Tusculum (3-19, 1-15 SAC) on Valentine's Day inside Holt Fieldhouse.
It's the first 60-point win since beating Mars Hill 106-44 back on Dec. 18, 2019. Carson-Newman gained the lead 50 seconds into the game and never trailed in the 60-point home win.
"We got out to a great start shooting the ball well and defending," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "That continued on with the ten players we played in the opening quarter and scored 36 points which was nice to see. The second quarter defense was great. A lot of times in games like that we haven't scored well in fourth quarters. Today, the young kids stepped up and all 25 of those fourth quarter points came from players other than the starters which was great."
Carson-Newman maintains the 17th longest active home winning streak in DII and the second best among SAC schools with another home win. The Lady Eagles are now 13-0 this season, their second-longest home winning streak in program history. Carson-Newman continues to be exceptional at home, winning 9 of the 13 games by double digits.
Carson-Newman got out to an excellent start and never looked back. C-N scored the first 15 points of the game and held TU off the scoreboard for the first four and a half minutes of the game. That start and stellar hot-shooting all quarter allowed C-N to score a season-high 36 first quarter points to grab a 23-point lead after one quarter. The Lady Eagles were sharp from behind the arc as well making five of their first eight three-point attempts.
It was all about the defense in the second quarter. TU only made four baskets and had two separate three-minute droughts in the period. C-N only made six of its eight shots in the period but still outscored the Pioneers by nine to lead by 32 points at halftime.
C-N continued to play efficient offense, making nine of its 17 baskets in the third quarter and grew the lead to 43 points after three quarters. Mincey's crew finished the period on a 10-0 run.
The Lady Eagles never let up beginning the 4th quarter on an 8-0 scoring run to lead by 50. That large lead would only increase in the final minutes. Just like C-N started the game, it scored the final 15 points of the game and grew the margin to 60 points at the buzzer.
Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) made five of her eight three-point attempts and finished with a game-high 24 points.
"I really needed a game like that," Wykle said. "It's a shoot the next one and hope it goes in mentality. It's easy to get in a lull, it's a long season. As the year goes on, especially at the end of the year you just want to play good games and be more efficient at the end of the year."
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) was also efficient scoring in double figures with 11 points, making all her three of her three-pointers. Mattie Nuckolls (Chatsworth, Ga.) also pitched in with ten points off the bench on five of seven shooting. While no one else scored in double figures for C-N, seven others made multiple baskets.
Carson-Newman came up just one three-pointer shy of its season-high but did record its highest percentage of the season from beyond the arc. The Lady Eagles made 14 of their 29 threes, good for 48%.
The Lady Eagles were also sharp from the field, making 49% of their shots assisting on a season-high 31 of the 39 made baskets. Karli Haworth (Maryville, Tenn.) led the team with a career-high four assists, while ten others had multiple assists in the game as well.
"I told them if they move the ball around well that someone is going to get an open shot," Mincey said. "I thought we did a much better job of that tonight. They shared the ball and they didn't try to force stuff and that's how you end up with 31 assists and only 11 turnovers."
No Tusculum player scored in double-figures, with N'kiah Chesterfield scoring a team-high nine points. The Pioneers turned the ball over 22 times and C-N scored 24 points of those TU miscues.
Carson-Newman wraps up its three-game homestand with a meeting versus Anderson on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Broadcast coverage airs on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and online at cneagles.com/live starting at 1:45 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloWbb
