HARROGATE, Tenn. – Jasmine Kelly picked up a loose ball with 0.8 seconds remaining in the game and banked in a layup from just beyond the left block to lead Lincoln Memorial to an upset of 20th-ranked Carson-Newman 56-54 Tuesday evening at Tex Turner Arena.
Carson-Newman has lost four straight in Harrogate with two games in overtime and two games decided by one possession in that span.
"We played terrible," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "I give credit to LMU. They played a very physical game. They hung in there when we tried to make our little run in the third quarter and got it up to 10. We were just not dead set to play well enough offensively to win the game. You hold somebody to 56 points you should expect to win the game. Finally a game came where we didn't shoot the ball well from the perimeter. They had our guards frustrated. It's humbling for our kids and maybe it will pay off in the end."
The Lady Eagles failed to provide the knockout punch in the second half as Carson-Newman led 35:30 of the contest. Carson-Newman held its largest lead of the night at 36-26 with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter before Lincoln Memorial went on a 10-2 run to close the gap to two points.
Carson-Newman's largest lead of the fourth quarter was four points as Lincoln Memorial had eight possessions where it could tie or take the lead before getting a 50-49 advantage with 2:33 to play. Senior guard Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) was fouled shooting a three-pointer and converted all three to give the visiting team the lead back.
After a layup from Lincoln Memorial, redshirt-freshman guard Kayla Newman (Alcoa, Tenn.) made two foul shots with 44 seconds remaining for the final points of the night for Carson-Newman to put the Lady Eagles back on top 54-52.
On the final possession of the night Newman blocked a jump shot attempt from Britney Guy that bounced right into the hands of Kelly who put in the shot.
Junior guard Kailyn Brooks had a fall away look from the left wing that bounced off of the backboard and glanced off of the rim as time expired.
After falling behind 4-2 in the first quarter, Carson-Newman used a 7-2 sequence to take an 11-6 lead. The Lady Eagles scored six points on 10 turnovers by Lincoln Memorial in the opening 10 minutes to take a 15-10 lead.
The lead at 28-19 for Carson-Newman with 2:53 remaining in the opening half on a jumper from sophomore Abby Tinsley (Charlottesville, Va.), the last made field goal of the first half for the Lady Eagles. Lincoln Memorial ended the half on a 7-2 run to close within four at the break.
Sophomore forward Jecca Simerly (Talbott, Tenn.) led Carson-Newman in scoring in the first half with six points as it shot just 31 percent from the floor. Lincoln Memorial saw Megan Pittman tally eight points and eight rebounds in the first half of action.
Brooks was the lone player in a road uniform in double figures finishing with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Carson-Newman shot 27.4 percent for the game going 7-for-30 from the floor in the game.
Lincoln Memorial became the first team since at least the turn of the century to have two players with double-doubles in the same game. Pittman finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds while Josey Harding had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Carson-Newman returns home after Thanksgiving break to play host to North Georgia on Thursday, Dec. 3rd at 6 p.m. inside of Holt Fieldhouse. Broadcast coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM with a high definition video stream on cneagles.com/live.
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