VIDEO: Mike Mincey, Skylar Boshears, Lindsey Taylor and Braelyn Wykle Postgame Press Conference
SALISBURY, N.C. – Braelyn Wykle set the South Atlantic Conference's single-season three-point record with her first shot of the night, but Georgia Southwestern (29-3) outscored Carson-Newman (24-10) by 23 after the first quarter to win the Southeast regional championship 79-62 on Monday night inside Goodman gymnasium.
GSW shot 30% from the field in the opening quarter but shot 57% the rest of the game and outscored Carson-Newman 65-42 to win the regional title.
"It was a tough game for us," Carson-Newman women's basketball head coach Mike Mincey said. "You have to pick your poison with them. If you try to take away the paint, they'll hit nine threes which they did in the first half. A lot of credit goes to them. We took away their paint points which and made the threes which was kind of uncommon but that's how good of a team that is. You try to take away one thing and they burn you with another. I'm proud of my kids and how they played. They played really hard for us throughout this week. Today just was not our day."
Carson-Newman set a good tone early in the game. The Lady Eagles started the game on a 10-0 run. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) started the scoring with her 106th three-pointer breaking the South Atlantic Conference's single-season record for three-pointers made, finishing her remarkable season with 107. Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) scored the next seven points in 50 seconds. GSW settled into the game by nailing its first 4 three-pointers, but C-N still led by six points after the opening quarter.
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The hot shooting for the Lady Hurricanes continued into the second quarter. After a Wykle three-pointer started the quarter's scoring, GSW rattled off the next 12 points, hitting three more triples to grab its first lead of the game at 26-23. Georgia Southwestern made five of its six three-pointers in the second quarter to score 26 points and lead 40-34 at intermission. As a team, the Lady Hurricanes shot nine for 13 from long range in the first half.
The shooting from outside continued as GSW made five of its first nine shots to swell the lead to nine with 4:51 to play in the third quarter. Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) was C-N's offense in the third quarter, scoring twelve of the team's 16 points. GSW shot 57% from the field in the third quarter and led by ten after three.
Carson-Newman got within single digits early in the fourth quarter but was never able to get any closer than eight points as GSW led by as many as 19 and ultimately by 17.
Wykle concludes her storied and record-breaking Carson-Newman career with 2,782 career points and moved into fourth place on the DII women's basketball scoring list with a game-high 23 points. She made 10 of her 20 shots and nailed two three-pointers. Wykle averaged 23.6 points per game in the NCAA Tournament to earn Southeast regional all-tournament team honors.
"I call this the less than 1 percent group," Wykle said. "I think there was a sign out there that said less than 1 percent of people get to play college basketball and definitely less than that can say they were a part of winning programs. We are part of that group. I'm glad that we got to add to the legacy that is Carson-Newman women's basketball. I love these coaches and this program and every single team that I have been part of. It's been a great ride."
Penland joined Wykle on the all-tournament team after scoring ten points and nailing C-N's other two three-pointers. The junior guard averaged more than 11 points during the NCAA tournament.
Taylor finished in double-figures with 15 points on five of 13 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.
Georgia Southwestern made ten three-pointers and got 21 points from Ndidiamaka Ndukwe who made six of her nine shots. Lexi McCully and Destiny Garrett both scored in double-figures as well.
The loss closes out Skylar Boshears (LaFollete, Tenn.) and Wykle's careers.
"We call them the core group," Mincey said. "We've won a lot of basketball games with them. Broke a lot of records with them. They've all meant a lot to us. We can talk about the basketball stuff but who they are off the floor is more important. They are never trouble and they bring it every day. I want good people in our program and they certainly have been that way."
Carson-Newman concludes an incredible journey that saw the program make runs in both the SAC and NCAA Tournament. It was a season that was filled with many special achievements.
Mincey became the program's winningest coach and reached the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in his career. As a team, C-N broke the record for steals in a game back in January against Emory & Henry.
Wykle became the school's all-time leading scorer and broke the single-season record and single-game record for three-pointers made. She also wraps up her career in the top ten in three-pointers made in DII history.
Penland and Taylor surpassed 1,000 career points this season and Tori Rutherford (Rutledge, Tenn.) had the program's first triple-double in nearly a decade.
For offseason updates on Carson-Newman women's basketball, follow @CN_Eagles and @Cnwbasketball on Twitter.
