VIDEO: Makayla Avley Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Down by one at halftime, Carson-Newman put an emphatic end to a four-game losing streak with its largest win over a nationally-ranked team outscoring No. 8/3 North Georgia 56-24 in the second half in a 92-61 victory over the Nighthawks Saturday at Holt Fieldhouse.
"I know this has been a tough stretch playing a very tough schedule," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "I kept trying to preach to them that as we adjust through the loss of Lindsey [Taylor] and how to rotate players. They never gave up on each other. It's a long season and this is only one game. I just feel like they are prepared for us. We were hot today and hit a lot of shots that we hadn't been hitting. We are a good shooting team but the ball hasn't bounced our way. They have been the dominate program over the last four years. I am glad we had this performance over a really quality opponent ranked top 10 in the country."
The Lady Eagles had won by a total of 25 points over its last five victories against top 25 teams and recorded five total double-digit wins against ranked foes since 2008 before winning by 31 on Saturday. The prior high was beating No. 23 Newberry by 20, 66-46, on Dec. 3, 2016.
Carson-Newman (4-4) gets its largest win over North Georgia (6-1) in the series history with the prior high of 21 coming in 2015 snapping a three-game skid while improving to 6-1 in meetings at Mossy Creek. The Nighthawks were one of the 20 remaining undefeated teams in the nation entering the day.
Ranked third in the media poll, C-N earned a win over the highest ranked team it has played since at least 2008 with the prior top-ranked foe being fifth-ranked Tusculum, 90-87, at Holt on Jan. 17, 2009, a span of 403 games and 5,072 days.
The program improves to 6-5 against top 10 teams since the start of 2008 getting its second victory in the last 21 days after producing two in the prior 14 campaigns. Under Mincey, the club recorded its 86th win by at least 20 points.
C-N had scored greater than 80 points in a game once this season while shooting better than 50 percent for the game for the third time on the year pushing the record to 63-1 under Mincey when making at least half of its shots. The Lady Eagles had scored 61 points or less in three straight games before putting up 56 in the final 20 minutes on Saturday.
Five Lady Eagles finished in double figures with Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) posting 18 points, four assists and two steals. Makayla Alvey (Dandridge, Tenn.) doubled her prior career high with 18 points, eight rebounds, five steals and three assists.
"We needed a win today," Alvey said. "I came out and I am normally not the girl that scores a lot of points. I like getting it to players that can and are better at shooting but I was open so I just shot it when I was there."
�� Best shooting performance of the year
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) December 3, 2022
�� Largest win over a ranked team
�� Career day for @Malvey14 @CNwbasketball back in the win column pic.twitter.com/oRqFnxUyEB
Kali McMahan (Dandridge, Tenn.) had scored 10 points through her first six games before finishing with 15, nine boards, three steals and two blocks.
"Practice really prepared me for today," McMahan said. "Ruthie [Mbugua] and Harli [Smith] gave me good competition in the post to go up against them in practice every day. I think that really got me ready for today and situations like that."
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) filled up the stat sheet making six of eight with 16 points, six assists, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Skylar Boshears (Lafollette, Tenn.) added 10 points and three assists.
Over the first 10 minutes of action, there were nine ties and two lead changes with a 7-0 surge putting the Nighthawks on top 14-10. Despite taking two leads, the Lady Eagles allowed six of the final eight points of the frame to fall behind 23-20.
Spanning the quarters, Carson-Newman scored 11 in a row holding North Georgia without points until the 5:06 mark of the second opening up a 33-26 lead with 3:47 to play in the second stanza. The Orange and Blue did not make a field goal the rest of the quarter but three late free throws halted an 11-0 Nighthawk run to trim it to 37-36 deficit at the break.
Out of the locker room, C-N wasted no time scoring the first six points of the frame and 14 of the first 16 to charge out to a 50-39 advantage in less than four minutes. Overall the group went 13-for-16 from the field in the quarter with Keeleigh Rogers (Knoxville, Tenn.) burying a triple at the buzzer to cap a 33-14 outburst and put the unit ahead 69-51 going to the fourth.
In the final 10 minutes, the Lady Eagles shot 53 percent and limited the Nighthawks to 10 points pushing the lead out to as many as 33 points to seal a victory.
After making nine of 18 in the first quarter, the Nighthawks shot 28 percent in the final three quarters going 13-for-47 including 0-for-10 from three-point range in the second half.
Caroline Martin paced the visitors with 15 points, four assists and three rebounds. Josie Earnhardt added 13 points in 33 minutes.
The Lady Eagles open up South Atlantic Conference play on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. with a visit to Limestone. Broadcast coverage airs on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and cneagles.com/live starting at 5:15 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.
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