HICKORY, N.C. – Justyce Swango made a foul shot with 0.5 seconds to play in the game to propel Lenoir-Rhyne to its third straight victory over Carson-Newman 57-56 Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference play at Shuford Memorial Gym.
With the score tied at 56 and 5.2 seconds left in the game and one second on the shot clock, Mika Wester (Newport, Tenn.) missed a running layup. On the rebound, the clock stopped for about a second and Wester committed a foul on Swango with 0.5 seconds showing on the game clock.
Lenoir-Rhyne (6-3, 3-2) wins its 12th straight home game as Carson-Newman (6-5, 3-2) has not won on the Bears' home floor since Dec. 14, 2013.
Lenoir-Rhyne started the game with a 10-3 lead only to see C-N take a 14-13 lead following an 11-3 run. The Lady Eagles took that lead with 9:22 to play in the second quarter and went on a scoring drought that last seven minutes to see the Bears take a 23-14 lead. Carson-Newman scored a total of five points in the second stanza, the lowest point output in any quarter on the year passing a seven-point fourth frame at North Georgia on Dec. 7.
Only two players scored for Carson-Newman in the first half as senior Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) had nine points and sophomore Briana Smith (Nashville, Tenn.) had seven points. The Lady Eagles shot 15 percent from the floor, including 2-for-26 from inside the three-point arc, in the opening half and scored a season-low 16 points in the first half to trail 28-16. The prior low was a 26-point first half against No. 21 Lander on Nov. 12.
The Lady Eagles scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to tie the scoring on a driving right-handed layup by Smith with 5:34 to play in the frame. L-R finished the stanza on a 10-2 run to take a 40-34 advantage to the final quarter.
C-N started the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 41-40 advantage 1:24 into the stanza. L-R came back to take a 45-43 lead on to see the Lady Eagles push a lead to a game-high four points at 51-47 with 4:47 to play in the game. A driving right-handed layup by sophomore Haris Price (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) with 1:40 to play would be the final time the visitors scored.
Wester led all players with 15 points to go along with five rebounds as she scored in double figures for the 10th straight contest. Brooks poured in 13 points and Smith finished with 11 points and a career-high nine rebounds. Senior Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.) recorded a double-digit rebounding effort for the sixth time in her career.
Madi Suddreth led the Bears with 15 points and five rebounds while Chelsey Romero added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Carson-Newman gets two weeks off of game action for Christmas break and return to action on Dec. 31 to play on New Year's Eve for the third time in program history. The Lady Eagles visit Mars Hill for a 2 p.m. contest that will be broadcast on Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM and online at cneagles.com/live starting with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" at 1:45 p.m.
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