Final Box Score

GREENWOOD, S.C. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (1-0) went 9-for-17 from three-point range in a 67-63 victory against the University of South Carolina Aiken Pacers (0-1) Friday night at Horne Arena.

The 52.9 percent conversion rate from long distance is the highest clip for a Carson-Newman team when shooting at least 15 triples since November 9, 2013 when the Lady Eagles went 9-for-15 (60 percent) from beyond-the-arc 95-72 win over Lees-McRae.

"It was a gutsy win," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "I'm glad that we found a way to win. I don't know how much we deserved to win especially since we didn't play well in the first half. We made a lot three-pointers so that obviously helped. It was more of a frustrating game for me because we had a big lead and made it so dramatic at the end. Our free throw shooting wasn't very good even though we were the best in the league last year. Shooting 51 percent at the line is not going to win to win us a lot of game. They took it to us but I'm glad we came out on top."

Senior guard Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) led the way with 18 points going 6-for-8 from three-point range on the night. Senior forward Taylor Peterson (Mount Juliet, Tenn.) was the only other Lady Eagle in double-digits finishing with 16 points and five rebounds on 5 of 9 shooting.

All nine Lady Eagles that played scored at least three points on the night. Junior guard Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) led all players with eight assists while sophomore forward Jecca Simerly (Talbott, Tenn.) finished with a game-high nine rebounds.

With the Lady Eagles on top 10-6 in the first quarter, the Pacers used a 9-0 run over the next 2:11 to take a 15-10 lead. USC Aiken led 20-16 after 10 minutes.

Trailing by seven with 5:41 to play in the second stanza, the Lady Eagles used a 9-0 spurt capped by a jumper from redshirt-sophomore Katie Stubblefield (Alcoa, Tenn.) to regain the lead. After the Pacers regained the lead a triple from Peterson made the score 36-35 in favor of USC Aiken after 20 minutes.

Carson-Newman took the lead after three quarters outscoring USC Aiken 15-9. The Pacers scored just six points in the first 7:24 of the third quarter as the Lady Eagles took a 46-43 at that point.

The Lady Eagles led by five points heading into the final quarter. A 10-2 run by the Carson-Newman started the fourth quarter capped by a three-pointer by Burstrom to give her team its largest lead of the game at 60-49 with 5:40 to play. The Pacers chipped away a pair of three-pointers by Alexis Ware to cut the deficit to three points at 65-62 with 1:38 to play. Ware made one foul shot the rest of the way as the Lady Eagles sealed a 67-63 win.

Carson-Newman went 12-for-21 from the free throw line, 57 percent while going 23-for-56, 41 percent, from the floor. The Pacers outrebounded the Lady Eagles 45-34 while Carson-Newman had 16 assists and 12 turnovers.

Ware led the way for the Pacers with 17 points and four rebounds. Kassy Johannsen scored 12 points and four rebounds as eight players scored in the game.

Carson-Newman closes out its first weekend of action Saturday against Lander with the opening tip scheduled for 3 p.m. at Horne Arena. Braxton Crisp handles the play-by-play on the Eagle Sports Network with coverage beginning at 2:45 on cneagles.com/live.

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