VIDEO: Braelyn Wykle Interview
WISE, Va. – It was another vintage Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) night inside the Prior Convocation Center on Wednesday evening to lead Carson-Newman (19-7, 13-5 SAC) to a 87-72 road win over UVA Wise (11-15, 7-11).
Stepping onto the floor for the 137th time in her career, Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) passed Missy Brown for most games played in program history but that's not all the graduate student achieved on this Wednesday evening. The fifth-year guard scored a season-high 37 points on an absurdly efficient 13 of 15 from the field and made seven of her nine three-pointers. Wykle moved into ninth place all-time on the DII women's basketball scoring list with her first basket of the evening.
"I wish we would've gotten 20 more out of her in the second quarter like the first," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "Obviously she comes out and scores 17 in the second half and that was huge. 12 was making it hard on her. That was making it hard at times to function on offense. To be guarded the way she was and still go for a big number like 37, I'm glad we still get a few more games with her this year."
Nailing seven three-pointers, Wykle is just seven three-pointers away from breaking the single season three-point record, set by Kailyn Brooks in 2016-17 with 84, Wykle has 77. It's the sixth time she has tied the single-game record for three-pointers made in a game. Braelyn scored 30 points for the first time this season and for the tenth time in her career.
"Coach Dusty (Nickles) kind of called me out at the beginning of the game," Wykle said. "He could tell that I wasn't being as aggressive as I needed to be. He called me out and I'm a competitor. I didn't want to disappoint him and knew that I wasn't playing to the best of my abilities so that helped a lot."
UVA Wise made six of its first eight shots to gain a three-point lead with 4:51 to play in the opening quarter. The final four minutes were dominated by C-N and Wykle. The senior was absolutely unconscious in the first quarter. She made all eight of her shots and all four of her three-pointers for 20 first quarter points and C-N led by 13 after the opening period. Wykle scored 12 consecutive points and then 8 consecutive points on two different sequences in the opening quarter.
After a slow scoring start to the second quarter, Tori Rutherford (Rutledge, Tenn.) helped C-N gain its largest lead of the half at 19 after a three-point basket with 5:43 to play until halftime. Rutherford had six points in the second quarter. Wise closed the half strong, limiting C-N to seven points in the final five minutes and responded by scoring 14 points during that stretch to trim the Eagles lead to 12 at halftime.
The Lady Eagles continued their hot shooting into the second half, making four of their first five three-pointers, two of which came from Wykle and the lead grew to 20 points with 6:20 left in the third quarter. Caitlyn Ross scored seven straight points for Wise to trim the deficit back down to 13 with 4:15 left in the third quarter. The Cavaliers scored 16 of the final 19 points to trail by just seven points heading to the fourth quarter.
C-N made four of its first five shots to go on a 9-0 scoring run to begin the fourth quarter and extend the lead back out to 16 points three minutes into the fourth. That lead grew even larger as Wykle made a layup to cap a 7-0 run and the lead was 19, as C-N put away the Cavaliers with the late run.
"When it got down to the point where we had to play, I'm happy to actually see us finish a game where we did give up a lead," Mincey said. "We executed in the halfcourt and got the ball where we needed to get it off of some of our sets."
It's the largest margin of victory on the road this season and largest since defeating Wise by 21 last season. C-N remains a perfect 12-0 facing UVA Wise, with eleven coming by double digits.
Rutherford made three triples and scored 14 points on four of nine shooting while also dishing out a team-high five assists. Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) scored 11 points for her eighth double-figure game of the season.
The Lady Eagles was more efficient than UVA Wise, shooting 47% to Wise's 40%. C-N is 18-1 when outshooting its opponent. Carson-Newman was 45% from beyond the arc and made 13 triples.
C-N controlled the glass with a plus six advantage on the boards. Penland led the way with eight boards.
Ross scored 19 of her 21 points after halftime to lead the Cavaliers. Three other players for Wise scored in double-figures.
Carson-Newman hits the road for the final time this regular season with a trip to Limestone on Saturday. starts Tipoff from Gaffney, S.C. is 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
