GAFFNEY, S.C. – Limestone (10-17, 4-13 SAC) hit a late three-point basket to get past Carson-Newman (19-8, 13-6 SAC) 77-75 on Senior Day inside the Timken Center.
"Their confidence continued to grow and they were getting us on islands against our man defense," Carson-Newman women's basketball head coach Mike Mincey said. "It was a back and forth battle throughout. I really struggled as a coach on who to rotate in and out. Glad we at least gave ourselves a chance there at the end."
Megan Watson's three-pointer with 24 seconds left put Limestone up by two for good in a 77-75 Saints win. It was the guard's first three-pointer made in her last five games. She has only hit 12 three-pointers all season, four of come in the two games against C-N. Watson finished the game with 13 points and made six baskets, tying her career-high which was also achieved against the Lady Eagles.
Carson-Newman remains winless in five trips to the Timken Center. The loss ends C-N's four-game winning streak. Scoring droughts plagued the Eagles. C-N had 3, three plus minute scoring droughts and Limestone capitalized with 23 points in that stretch.
The first quarter was filled with scoring runs. After C-N scored the first five points, the Saints rattled off the next seven points. Over the next two plus minutes, C-N would make five baskets in the painted area and went on an 11-0 scoring run to lead 16-7 with 4:43 left in the first. The Saints responded with the next eight points to draw within one. Carson-Newman closed the period well by scoring 11 of the final 15 points to lead by eight.
Limestone scored 12 of the first 14 points of the second period to regain a two-point advantage. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) scored six straight points to get C-N back in front by two, but the Saints held Carson-Newman scoreless for the final four minutes of the half and led by five at the break.
The Lady Eagles quickly erased that halftime deficit on a Wykle three-pointer and a Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) jump shot. Limestone created separation late in the third quarter after back to back three-pointers fell through to give the Saints their largest lead of the day.
Once again, C-N started a quarter well. This time, scoring eight of the first ten points to regain a one-point lead with 7:31 to play. The Saints answered the run with seven straight points and held the Lady Eagles scoreless for nearly four minutes. Carson-Newman ended the bleeding getting back to back scores from Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) and Penland to make it a one-point game with 2:25 left. After a Limestone bucket, Mattie Nuckolls (Chatsworth, Ga.) drove to the basket for a layup to bring it back to a one-point C-N deficit with 1:23 to play in the game.
The Lady Eagle defense got a stop and got two made free throws from Taylor to lead by one with 38 seconds to go. Out of a Saints timeout, Watson lined up a left wing three-pointer and buried it to put the Saints up by 2 with just 23 seconds remaining. Nuckolls and Taylor got good looks to in the paint to tie the game, but the shots did not go down.
Wykle moved into eighth place on the all-time DII scoring list with a 28-point performance to lead C-N. She made 10 of her 17 shots and drilled 3 threes. Taylor and Penland scored 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Limestone got 23 points from Kalisha Hill with two others scoring more than 10 as well. The Saints shot a season-high 51% from the field.
Carson-Newman breaks for a week before returning to the hardwood for Senior Day next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. against Mars Hill. Broadcast coverage airs on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and online at cneagles.com/live starting at 1:45 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.
