JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Mike Mincey notched career South Atlantic Conference win No. 108 to put his name atop the program's list as Carson-Newman throttled Mars Hill 106-44 Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse.
Mincey passed Eddie Carter on the C-N all-time list moving into sixth all-time in league history with his 108th league victory doing so in his 169th league affair.
"Eddie obviously is a great coach," Mincey said. "He's a better coach than I am. He has meant a lot to this university. He won a bunch of championships and that's what we are after. We get to play a lot of SAC games nowadays. I think our percentage has been pretty good. Anytime you reach something that puts you on top, it's not about me. These last four or five years we have been loaded with talent just like tonight's game. We have a lot of great players playing for us at Carson-Newman. In my nine years, I have been fortunate to have really great players."
Carson-Newman (7-4, 3-2) scored 45 points on the fast break and 26 points off of 30 Mars Hill (2-9, 0-5) turnovers. The Lady Eagles have beaten the Lions in seven straight contests and 14 of the last 15 posting triple digits for the fourth time in the last five affairs. It is the second-largest win in the history of the series just behind a 63-point drubbing on Nov. 29, 2017.
The Lady Eagles shot 51 percent in the game making at least half of their shots in each of the first three frames. As a club, it made 15 triples shooting 44 percent from long range.
Five players scored in double figures for the Lady Eagles led by 16 points from Kayla Marosites (Elizabethton, Tenn.). The senior added 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season with five assists and four steals.
Abby Wilson (Kingston, Tenn.) posted a career-highs in points and assists with 14 and six respectively going 5-for-7 from the field in the game in 15 minutes of action.
"It wasn't just individual effort," Wilson said. "It was team effort. Mincey stressed that during practice. It was collective. If one man broke down, everyone else would help them out. The effort was there tonight. There have been times in my life where I have had to sit out. God has given me the ability to play the game so why not go as hard as you can."
Addison Byrd (Nashville, Tenn.) and Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) each scored 13 points while Kelci Marosites added a dozen in 21 minutes.
✅ @MikeMincey resets @CNwbasketball's SAC wins record
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) December 19, 2019
✅ Career high points and assists for @abby22wilson
The Lady Eagles rolled to a blow out of Mars Hill. pic.twitter.com/BDIX4f7WO4
Mars Hill made six of its first eight shots and was within four points at 17-13 with 4:37 to play in the first period before the Lady Eagles scored 15 unanswered points to capture a 32-13 lead 42 seconds in the second stanza.
After the hot start, the Lions made four of its next 21 attempts from the field to close the half as the Lady Eagles outscored their foe 43-11 down the stretch to take a 60-24 lead into the locker. It was the highest scoring half of the year and biggest halftime lead in 2019 so far for the Orange and Blue.
C-N outscored the Lions 23-4 in the third quarter using a 15-0 run that saw the Lions go nearly six minutes without scoring to swell the bulge. Mars Hill went 2-for-17 from the field in the frame to fall behind 83-28 with 10 minutes to play.
Mars Hill made nine of its final 51 shots from the field shooting 25 percent in the game. Tatum Boggs was the lone Lion to finish in double figures with 11 points, six boards and four assists. De'Ja Marshall entered as the third-leading scorer in the league but mustered two foul shots going 0-for-3 from the field in 20 minutes.
The Lady Eagles get 16 days off before returning to the court in 2020 playing at Catawba on Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. Broadcast coverage will air on cneagles.com/live and the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville).
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