GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Despite leading by six points with less than eight minutes to play, Carson-Newman failed to score in the final 2:42 watching Tusculum score the game's final nine points in a 79-70 setback to the Pioneers Wednesday at Pioneer Arena in South Atlantic Conference play.
"We hung in there and we kept going back and forth," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "Throughout the whole game it was a well-played game and high-scoring game but credit goes to them. They outplayed us and when you get outplayed you aren't winning games."
Carson-Newman (15-9, 10-4) had won four straight over Tusculum (19-6, 10-5) losing for the first time since the 2020 SAC Tournament Quarterfinals seeing its lead in the Mountain Division standings dropped to a game and a half with four games to play.
The big difference in the game came beyond the arc as the Orange and Blue went 4-for-21 while the Pioneers went 12-for-34 as the Lady Eagles shot 37 percent in the game.
The NCAA released its first batch of region rankings used to select the eight teams to reach the NCAA Tournament with the Lady Eagles being one of the 10 teams under consideration while Tusculum did not see its name on the chart.
Harli Smith (Jamestown, Tenn.) topped the scoring column with 17 points and six rebounds joined by 17 points from Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) adding three steals and three assists but she fouled out with 2:20 to go.
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) added 11 points with Ruthie Mbugua (Danville, Ky.) adding eight points off of the bench. Keeleigh Rogers (Knoxville, Tenn.) pitched in seven points, eight rebounds and four steals.
After swapping buckets in the opening three minutes, the Lady Eagels went 3:04 without scoring as the Pioneers scored eight in a row to go ahead 12-6 with 4:37 to play first quarter. The margin reached seven but an and-one by Wykle trimmed the tally to three at 22-19 after 10 minutes.
Down 27-21 in the second period, the Orange and Blue reeled off eight points in a row to take a 29-27 edge before building a half-high 36-32 lead with 2:28 to go in the half. The Pioneers scored the final five points to go ahead 37-36 at halftime.
In less than four minutes of the third, the home team scored eight of 10 points to go ahead 45-40 but the Lady Eagles chiseled away and took a 53-52 edge going into the final period.
Spanning the quarter, Carson-Newman scored eight in a row to get its largest lead of the day at six holding a 60-54 margin with 7:56 to go in the game. Tusculum scored 13 of the next 17 before the Lady Eagles tied the score at 70 with 2:42 to go. C-N never scored again as the Pioneers scored the final nine to win it.
Tusculum went 19-for-22 at the charity stripe and made 12 of 14 in the fourth quarter to secure the win. Blayre Schultz led all scored with 22 points adding five rebounds and five assists.
Jami Tham finished with 17 points and 19 rebounds for her 24th double-double of the year. Mya Belton added 15 points and seven boards while Alyssa Walker posted 15 after scoring 20 total over the last 10 games collecting seven caroms.
The Lady Eagles hit the road on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the final road game of the regular season taking on 23rd-ranked Wingate. Broadcast coverage airs on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and cneagles.com/live starting at 1:45 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.
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