VIDEO: Jecca Simerly Interview
NEWBERRY, S.C. – Carson-Newman shot 59 percent from the floor in the second half while holding No. 23 Newberry to 33 percent shooting and no more than 14 points in a quarter to blitz the Wolves 66-46 Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference action at Eleazer Arena.
"I'm very proud of them," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "They came over here with a mindset that they could win the game. We caught Newberry on a bad shooting night. Some things had been going really well for them and not so well for us. We came over here determined and I think our group was tired of being called names that wouldn't mean you are very physical. We put a lot of work and we put together a really good performance."
Carson-Newman (4-3, 1-1) picks up its sixth win in eight tries against ranked teams since Mincey took over in 2011-12 to hand Newberry (6-1, 2-1) its first loss of the season.
For the ninth time in program history the Lady Eagles avoid a 0-2 league start after beginning the year 0-1 having started 0-2 just twice in the 28 years as a member of the SAC.
Newberry scored the first points of the game 55 seconds into the contest before C-N went on a 7-0 run to take a 7-2 edge. The advantage held when the first-quarter buzzer sounded as the Lady Eagles led 15-10 while holding the Wolves to 29 percent shooting and forced six turnovers.
Spanning from the 1:23 mark of the first quarter to the 6:56 point of the second stanza, C-N used an 11-2 run to go ahead 22-12 prompting a timeout for Newberry coach Sean Page. The Wolves immediately hit three consecutive three-pointers in a 58-second span to close within one at 22-21. The Lady Eagles held the home team without a field goal for the final 5:46 of the half. A triple from senior Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) as time expired capped an 8-1 run to end the half and send C-N to the locker room ahead 30-22.
Neither team shot above 30 percent in the first half as C-N collected 15 offensive rebounds to have eight second-chance points to mark the difference. Sophomore Mika Wester (Newport, Tenn.) led all players with nine points while collecting three rebounds. Shelby Britten led the way for Newberry with nine points and six boards.
Carson-Newman went 10-for-16 from the floor in the third quarter to see the lead balloon to 17 points, 53-36, entering the fourth quarter. Stretching through nine minutes starting the in the second quarter and ending on a three-point play from sophomore Haris Price (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) saw the Lady Eagles use a 20-3 run to take a 42-24 lead.
The two teams combined for 23 points in the fourth quarter as C-N shot 55 percent and held Newberry to 31 percent shooting outscoring the Wolves 13-10.
Wester led all players with 18 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Brooks was the only other Lady Eagle to score in double figures finishing with 16 points, three assists and three rebounds. Five C-N players had at least five rebounds in the game.
"We were challenged early in the week preparing for Newberry," junior Jecca Simerly said. "We needed to be a defensive minded team to get the win because they are post-oriented. Our guards helped us a lot so we could stay with our man."
Britten paced Page's team with 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Nicola Handreck finished with 12 points and six rebounds as the only players to score in double figures for the Wolves.
The Lady Eagles travel to Dahlonega, Ga. to North Georgia Wednesday night for a 6 p.m. tip-off against the Nighthawks. The game will be available on radio on Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM and streaming online at cneagles.com/live beginning at 5:45 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on the Eagle Sports Network.
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