JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In a 112-66 South Atlantic Conference victory Saturday afternoon, third-ranked Carson-Newman reset its field-goal percentage and three-point percentage records overs Queens (N.C.) at Holt Fieldhouse.
"It's a product of the amount of work they have put in," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "I think we have a lot of people that can score and shoot it efficiently. It's amazing really what they did really especially from the three."
The Lady Eagles went 38-for-56 from the field, 67.9 percent, surpassing the 65.5 percent, 38-for-58, set by the team against Lenoir-Rhyne on Jan. 20, 1993. It was the second-best margin in Division II on the year behind Indiana's (Pa.) 68.5 percent, 50 of 73, from Dec. 18, 2017.
Going 17-for-26, 65.4 percent, from long range, the unit bested the 63.6 percent clip, 7-for-11, set twice by the school. The prior marks came against Bluefield State on Nov. 29, 2003 and Limestone on Dec. 11, 2013. It is sixth-most efficient total among teams in America on the year.
Carson-Newman (23-1, 15-1) seals an eighth straight win over Queen (4-18, 1-15) while winning its 18th consecutive home contest. The Royals have now lost nine straight games on the year.
Each team shot 50 percent over the first 10 minutes of play as Queen led 5-3 with 8:12 to go in the stanza when C-N surged scoring nine unanswered to capture a 12-5 edge. The margin was 25-16 in favor of the home group after the opening quarter.
The second quarter saw the Lady Eagles go 11-for-14, 79 percent, from the floor. Queens pulled within eight points at 30-22 with 8:35 to play before intermission. Carson-Newman outscored the Royals 21-4 over the next 6:39 to expand the margin to 51-26. The Lady Eagles scored the final four points of the half as Mika Wester (Newport, Tenn.) converted a three-point play with seven ticks to go to send C-N into the locker room ahead 57-30.
Through 20 minutes, Mincey's group was 10-for-15 from beyond the arc and shot 63 percent from the floor overall. Kayla Marosites (Elizabethton, Tenn.) produced 18 points making all five of her shots from long range. She added five assists and four steals.
Over a 52-second stretch, C-N outscored Queens 8-0 to push the bulge to 33 at 67-34 with 7:54 to play in the third quarter. Overall the Lady Eagles used a 19-4 spurt to push the lead to 40 at 78-38 with 3:42 to go in the third. Back-to-back and-1's from Haris Price (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) and Marosites ended the lengthy scoring run. The team went 10-for-13 from the field and led 90-47 entering the fourth quarter.
In the final frame, the Lady Eagles missed one shot inside the three-point arc going 9-for-13 overall from the field to close out the victory.
Six players scored in double figures for C-N led by Kayla Marosites's 21 points as she added six rebounds, six assists and four steals going 7-for-8 from the field in the game.
Her sister, Kelci, came off the bench and produced 19 points on six of 10 shooting that included five of seven from deep to go along with five rebounds.
Wester and Price each registered 15 points in the game. Wester added a career-high seven assists and five board with Price handing out four assists with two steals.
"It's awesome to be on the floor with these girls," Wester reflected. "I have to give them credit because we are in the gym working. Every night we are in here. Every day after practice girls are staying in here to shoot and it's paying off. Hard work really does pay off."
Briana Smith (Nashville, Tenn.) had 19 points going 6-for-7 from the floor and Katie Stubblefield missed one of her five shot attempts for 10 points.
Queens shot 52 percent from the floor in the game but turned the ball over 20 times leading to 32 points off of those giveaways for the Lady Eagles.
Lade Adpeoju led Queens with 20 points scoring 10 in the final 10 minutes shooting 9-for-16 from the field. Mandy McNeese had 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting and Krisitan Eanes went 6-for-10 and had 12 points and five assists.
Next on the docket is C-N's Play4Kay night Wednesday at Holt Fieldhouse against Tusculum at 6 p.m. Broadcast coverage starts at 5:45 p.m. locally on 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and on the Internet on cneagles.com/live.
✅ New school FG percentage record
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) February 10, 2018
✅ New 3PT percentage record
✅ Second-best FG percentage in @NCAADII this year.@CNwbasketball was on �� today with six double-digit scorers. pic.twitter.com/DXWY2bZrHN
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