VIDEO: Keeleigh Rogers Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman forced 21 turnovers and scored 30 points off of those giveaways to get back into the win column beating UVA Wise 75-54 Saturday in South Atlantic Conference play at Holt Fieldhouse.
"In terms of everything the game was just okay," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "We need a win and we were able to come in here and play well enough to get a win. We are just happy to get the win. I think we left a lot of points out there in terms of missing shots that we are capable of making. Once again we shot below 40 percent from the field but we held them under 40."
The Lady Eagles have won all nine meetings with the Cavaliers winning by double figures for the eighth time in the series. Saturday was the clubs second wire-to-wire victory of the season winning a second straight at home.
Carson-Newman (5-5, 1-2) won the battle on the glass against UVA Wise (6-3, 1-2) 46-37 improving to 5-0 this year when outrebounding its opponent. The Lady Eagles picked up 17 offensive rebounds and turned that into 16 second-chance points.
Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) led all scorers with a season-high 27 points making nine of 18 from the field adding four steals, three rebounds and two assists.
Tori Rutherford (Rutledge, Tenn.) was the only other playing to finish in double figures tallying a dozen with a pair of steals. Keeleigh Rogers (Knoxville, Tenn.) led a group of players that filled up the stat sheet with six points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals.
"It was to go in and play hard," Rogers said. "That's what our coaches have been wanting us to do lately since we have been struggling really on the defensive and offensive end. I wanted to go in, play hard, hustle, get loose balls, get rebounds and do everything I can for the team."
✅ Wire-to-wire win
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) December 10, 2022
�� Forcing 21 turnovers
�� 9-0 against the Cavs
�� @CNwbasketball coasts to a win over Wise pic.twitter.com/xSXkUiVzmx
Overall nine different Lady Eagles scored in the game as the team scored 25 points off of the bench and turned the ball over just 11 times for the day.
It took over two minutes before any points were scored as Carson-Newman rattled off the game's first 11 before UVA Wise broke the seal with 5:33 to go in the first. After the visitors trimmed the margin to six at 15-9, C-N scored eight straight and 10 of the final 12 of the first quarter to lead 25-11 after 10 minutes.
The Lady Eagles built an 18-point margin thanks to a three-pointer by Rutherford at the 7:19 mark of the second. The Cavaliers scored the next seven to cut the deficit to 11 at 33-22. Mincey's group closed the half on a 8-2 run to make it a 41-24 game at the break, the largest halftime lead of the year. The club has led three times at halftime this year, all by double digits.
Josie Hester scored the first 10 points of the second half trimming C-N's lead to seven at 41-34 with 7:34 to go in the third. The Lady Eagles responded with seven straight points built the lead back to 15 before taking a 58-45 margin into the fourth.
The Cavaliers missed their first 10 shots of the final period and went 2-for-15 in the final frame before the Orange and Blue made their final four shots to put the finishing touches on a win.
Hester was the lone visitor to finish in double figures tallying 18 points on seven of 12 shooting burying four three-pointers with five rebounds. Caitlyn Ross flirted with a triple-double posting seven points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 33 minutes.
Entering the game fifth in the country in blocks, the Cavaliers racked up 13 shot blocks led by four apiece from Leah Kestner and Kaitlin Bailey.
The Lady Eagles continue their home swing on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. welcoming Mars Hill to Holt Fieldhouse. 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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