VIDEO: Press Conference with Mike Mincey and the seniors
DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Facing its largest halftime deficit in four years, fifth-seeded Carson-Newman clawed back to a five-point deficit but could not get over the hump falling 78-64 to top-seeded North Georgia Saturday night at the Convocation Center.
"Win or lose this game, we have had a fantastic year," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "Last year we won the regular-season title. This year we won the tournament title. I am proud of all of these guy and what they have been able to put forth here. We ran into a little bit of a hornet's nest tonight. North Georgia played great in the first half and hit a ton of threes. We didn't put our best foot forward in the first half and put ourselves in a big hole. The fight you saw in the third quarter and the ability to get it back to five just shows you how special this group is."
Carson-Newman (27-6) closes the year tied for the third-most wins in program history as only three teams in 44 years have more than this season's crop.
Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) finished with a game-high 26 points in the game going 8-for-15 from the field adding seven rebounds as the only player for the visitors to finish in double figures.
Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) chipped in eight points and seven rebounds and Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) added seven and four rebounds.
Addison Byrd (Nashville, Tenn.) tacked on seven point to bring her career total to 1,266 points to finish her career 14th on the school's all-time scoring list while her 128 career trifectas are good for 10th all time.
"Their journey has not been easy," Mincey said about the senior class. "They didn't get to come in and play right away. They stuck it out. This year it all came together with this particular group with three of them in the starting lineup. To do what they have done and win 27 games. Scoring over 80 points three times in five games of tournament play and a lot of these guys are key cogs to it. They all improved their game so much. They are going to be very missed."
The Lady Eagles came out of the gates scoring seven of the first nine points in the first three minutes to go ahead 7-2 but went over four minutes without scoring as the Nighthawks used an 11-0 surge to go ahead 13-7 before settling on a 20-12 advantage after the first frame.
After making four of its first eight shots of the second stanza, C-N missed six of its final seven watching the Nighthawks drain a pair of three-pointers in the final 90 seconds to open up a 39-23 lead at the break.
It was the lowest scoring half of the season for the group as the team faced its largest halftime deficit since March 19, 2018 in the Elite Eight against Union, also a 16-point gap at 43-27.
Less than two minutes into the second half, the Nighthawks built up a 21-point lead at 44-23, the largest deficit the Lady Eagles have faced on the year. On the back of Wykle, who scored 16 points in the quarter, C-N closed the frame on a 23-6 burst to close the gap to five at 51-46 going into the final period.
North Georgia started the fourth frame on a 7-2 charge and the Lady Eagles were unable to get any closer than eight points the rest of the way going 5-for-16 from the field in the quarter.
Carson-Newman dominated on the glass against a team that ranked ninth in the country in rebounding margin holding a 51-33 advantage but the Nighthawks turned the ball over five times in the affair.
Four players finished in double figures for the top seed led by 18 points each from Jamari McDavid and Josie Earnhardt. Caroline Martin added 17 points, nine of which came at the charity stripe. Julianne Sutton tallied 11 points and 12 boards.
Stay tuned to cneagles.com and follow @CNwbasketball on Twitter for all of the latest news and notes regarding the Carson-Newman women's basketball team.
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