JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — For the fifth straight game junior forward Zoriah Williams (Calera, Ala.) owned the paint for the Carson-Newman College women's basketball team. Williams recorded her fifth consecutive double-double in an 85-78 win over Mars Hill Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse.

The win stops a 2-game skid for the Lady Eagles. Carson-Newman is 11-14 on the season and 7-8 in the South Atlantic Conference. The loss puts Mars Hill at 15-8 and 8-7 in the SAC.

Williams barely waited for the game to start before grabbing her first rebound. Williams scored 12 points in the first half as she helped lead a Lady Eagles surge over the final eight minutes of the opening period. Williams ended the game with 23 points and 11 rebounds. To top it off, Williams added six steals.

Carson-Newman trailed by one after a 3-pointer from Mars Hill's Brittini Young with a little under 13 minutes to go in the first half. It would be the last time the Lady Lions would come close to the lead as Williams found her way behind the Mars Hill defense to put C-N back ahead 16-15.

The Lady Lions cut Carson-Newman's lead to three, but a three from junior guard Cassie Bates (Fremont, Calif.) pushed the lead back to six. Young answered back with a three of her own, before C-N took the game away.

Senior guard Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) put C-N up by seven with a jumper. Five minutes later the Lady Eagles were taking an 11-point lead into halftime with a jump shot from Bates. C-N shot the lights out in the first period, nearly hitting 55 percent from the floor. Mendenhall finished the game with 11 points.

C-N's Shannon Depew (Newport, Tenn.) had a big game inside the paint as well as Mars Hill had no answer for the Lady Eagles interior size. Depew scored 18 points and knocked down eight rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double of her own. Depew added four steals.

Senior guard Kaitlin Moore (Fort Hill, S.C.) was larcenous as well, adding six steals of her own to Carson-Newman's total. Sophomore guard Candis Clear (Memphis, Tenn.)  scored 10 points for the Lady Eagles. Senior guard Amber Blackwell (Duluth, Ga.) had a solid game coming off the bench, scoring seven points.

The one dim spot for the Lady Eagles came from the perimeter. Carson-Newman was just 4-for-15 as a team from behind the 3-point arc.

Young led Mars Hill with 22 points. Tyler Carlson scored 16 and Margaret Harvey added 10.