VIDEO: Kayla Marosites Interview
VIDEO: Sydney Pearce Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman reset the South Atlantic Conference single-season three-pointers record blowing out seventh-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne 105-71 in the tournament quarterfinals Wednesday evening at Holt Fieldhouse.
With 10 treys on the night, the Lady Eagles bring their season total to 317 in the 29th game of the year passing C-N's 315 set during 35 games in 2017-18 to establish a new conference high mark.
"I am very happy because we sat here last year very disappointed in our performance," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "Tonight we were three of 12 at the half from three and seven of 11 from the free-throw line. We are the best free-throw shooting team in the region and one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country and that was the only complaint I had from the first half. In the second half we made seven threes break a record that we set in 35 games two years ago. This team does it in 29 games. Overall, we got the win and get to go back to the semis which was the most important thing."
Carson-Newman (22-7) improves to 17-3 when hosting a conference quarterfinal match beating Lenoir-Rhyne (16-11) for the ninth time in 13 meetings when playing in the postseason. The Lady Eagles are 9-5 as the No. 2 seed posting their most points ever in a meeting with the Bears.
Six different Eagles scored in double figures for the first time since Jan. 26, 2019 against Wingate, 40 games and 404 days ago. Kayla Marosites (Elizabethton, Tenn.) led the way with 21 points, 13 rebounds and five steals in 23 minutes of play.
"I was just feeling good especially during warm-ups," Marosites said. "My shot was feeling so I knew it was going to be a good day. I will always remember this but the most important thing is that we are going to Furman. I am so excited for that and I am always going to bring it especially for tournament time."
Sydney Pearce (Johnson City, Tenn.) produced a career-high 15 points going 7-for-9 from the field in 14 minutes collecting five rebounds and two blocks.
"I felt like my coaches really trusted me to go in there and do it," Pearce said. "My teammates kept feeding me the ball. In practice they have been hyping me up and I wanted to play good for the tournament."
Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) racked up 15 points, Addison Byrd added a dozen and Madison Bunch (Morristown, Tenn.) posted 10. Harli Smith (Jamestown, Tenn.) registered 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Qua Hines (Gatlinburg, Tenn.) had eight points and posted a career-high nine assists.
On the night, Mincey's club made 53 percent of its shots from the field converting 10 from long range, the 18th double-digit output of the year. C-N posted a 52-27 lead on the glass scoring 54 points in the paint and 35 points on the fast break.
✅ New single-season SAC three-point record
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) March 5, 2020
�� 53 percent shooting the field
�� 10 three-pointers
�� Most points scored against the Bears all-time
�� @CNwbasketball is onto the SAC semifinals pic.twitter.com/MUH7K8oU8A
In a first frame where the Lady Eagles made nine of their first 10 shots from the field, C-N used two 7-0 runs and an 8-0 burst to build up a 34-20 lead. Lenoir-Rhyne committed seven turnovers leading to 15 points for the home side as Mincey's crew shot 65 percent from the field.
Carson-Newman made two of its first 11 shots from the floor in the second stanza but used a 10-0 run to get the advantage up to 23 points at 54 -31 on a layup from Smith. A three-pointer from Tatum McBride in the waning seconds made it a 54-34 contest at halftime.
Out of the locker room, the second seed came out firing scoring the first 15 points of the half with each player on the floor scoring during the stretch to open up a 69-34 lead before taking an 83-52 lead into the fourth behind 29 third-quarter points.
In the final period, the Lady Eagles buried 50 percent of its shots getting six points from Pearce to put it on cruise control for the victory.
Lenoir-Rhyne shot 44 percent from the field seeing five players score in double figures led by senior Karlie Bearden's 24 points and eight rebounds as she went 11-for-17 from the field in her final career game.
McBride tossed in a dozen making as many three-pointers, four, in the game as she had all year. Ashley Woodroffe and Blair Barefoot had 11 apiece and Jackie Denny came off of the bench to add 10.
In the final region rankings released on Wednesday afternoon, the Lady Eagles were tabbed fifth moving back up after Tusculum dropped a Saturday game to Wingate as the Lady Eagles look to improve their seeding this weekend.
The Lady Eagles will play the Pioneers who thrashed Wingate 82-40 earlier in the evening the SAC semifinals in Greenville, S.C. on the campus of Furman on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Air time on "The AEC Countdown" to Tip-Off is at 2:15 on the Eagle Sports Network.
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