VIDEO: Kayla Marosites Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A dominating opening quarter that saw 19th-ranked Carson-Newman start the game on a 22-0 run paced the Lady Eagles as Mike Mincey's unit set a program record with 17 made three-pointers in a 109-53 thrashing of Shorter Tuesday evening at Holt Fieldhouse.
"Obviously we can shoot really well and can score," Mincey said. "My biggest fear coming in was it's our home opener and we have gotten stagnant and the ball didn't bounce our way. They have a little bit of a target on their back now. They came in and put the ball in the basket really well early."
Carson-Newman (6-0) has won 10 straight home openers and is 31-9 as a program when playing its first home game of the season.
It is the third straight game that the Lady Eagles have scored at least 90 points. It is the fourth time in school history and first since doing so in a record four straight outings from Jan. 10-21, 2009.
Twice in 2016-17 Mincey's group had posted a program record 15 three-pointers doing so against King (Tenn.) and Johnson as the 17 finished one shy of the league record.
"Early in the preseason when we watched the amount of shooters that we have shoot the ball, I really thought we could make more three's this year than we ever have," Mincey stated. "It's going to be a collection of a lot of individuals hitting 40 or 50. When we come and shoot like we did tonight – they were in a zone forcing us to shoot outside."
Four players scored in double figures led by 21 points and eight rebounds from Kayla Marosites (Elizabethton, Tenn.) as the sophomore went nine-for-16 from the floor in the game.
"I want to go after every ball," Marosites said. "I try to get as many [rebounds] as I can. I only had eight tonight. I wanted more though. Rebounding is one thing that I know I am good at so I try to focus my mind and pride myself on it. If we get offensive rebounds it means another chance for us to score."
The reigning league Player of the Week, Haris Price (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) scored 16 points and posted four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Mika Wester (Newport, Tenn.) had 14 points and nine rebounds going six-for-eight from the floor. Tori Griffin (Strawberry Plains, Tenn.) had 14 points and Ashton Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) finished with 12.
Shorter (1-3) missed its first seven shots from the field before Bianca Thornton converted a three-pointer from the right wing with 3:07 to play in the first quarter. The Hawks made just two of their 18 attempts from the floor as the Lady Eagles shot 54 percent to hold a 31-5 advantage after 10 minutes.
In the second stanza, coach Dawn Brown's group failed to make a shot from the floor over the final 4:06 of the half as the Lady Eagles closed on a 17-3 run in the final three minutes to take a 58-13 lead into the locker room.
Carson-Newman turned the ball over five times in third quarter as Shorter turned that into six points. The two sides played level with each team scoring 22 points in the stanza as C-N took an 80-35 lead to the fourth.
In the second half, C-N went nine-for-18 from long range that included five-for-nine in the fourth quarter. Griffin broke the record with 3:13 to go and Madison Bunch (Morristown, Tenn.) added to the mark with 1:52 remaining.
Shorter ended the night with a 27 percent effort from the floor going seven-for-32 from long distance. Jordan McCarver led the way with 15 points as she needed 18 three-point attempts to reach that number.
Jasmine Gaines scored 13 points going five-for-10 from the field while BreAnna Thomposon collected a game-high 13 rebounds.
Following Thanksgiving break the Lady Eagles will be back inside of the friendly confines Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. to face-off against Columbus State. Audio and video broadcast coverage starts at 12:45 p.m. on cneagles.com/live and 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville).
Plenty of Orange and Blue dominance in the @CNwbasketball infographic after another strong night from @KaylaMarosites. pic.twitter.com/4JNY87VF9z
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) November 22, 2017
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