ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman (22-9) shot its worst percentage from the field in any game this season, falling in the South Atlantic Conference Championship game to Wingate (22-9) 85-69 on Friday evening inside the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center.
"Congratulations to Coach Hancock and Wingate," Carson-Newman head women's basketball coach Mike Mincey said. "They played well and saved their best basketball for today. One team in this game shot really well while the other did not, that being us. We got up by seven but that's when they went on a big run in the second quarter. That ultimately did us in and we found ourselves in a big hole. We've been on the good end of this and the bad end. We'll move into next week and get ready for the NCAA tournament."
Carson-Newman took 20 more shots than Wingate, but the Bulldogs made four more shots than C-N in a 16-point game. The Lady Eagles were 29.1% from the field, their lowest percentage of the season. It struggled from three-point range as well, missing 28 of its 36 three-point attempts. Those 36 attempts were the second-most attempts in a game this season.
On the other hand, WU was 46% from the field, 43% from long-distance and made 22 of its 24 free throws.
The title game loss is the first time C-N has lost in the championship game under Mincey. C-N is now 3-5 all-time in the SAC championship game.
The Lady Eagles started the game 2 for 13 from the field and one of nine from distance and still was just tied with Wingate halfway through the opening quarter. C-N scored five of the final seven points in the first and led by two.
That momentum carried into the second as C-N scored the first five points and led by seven points two minutes in. That would not last and Wingate flipped the game on its head. WU scored the next seventeen points and led by two with 2:25 remaining in the half. A Makayla Alvey (Dandridge, Tenn.) free throw ended a six-minute scoring drought, but WU continued to surge by scoring eight of the final ten points to lead by fifteen at halftime. That halftime deficit is the largest in a game this season.
C-N made just three of its 18 shots and one of its eight three-point attempts in the second quarter while Wingate was eight for 14 and four of five from long distance.
The same story continued into the third quarter. Wingate pushed the lead to 20 halfway through the quarter but C-N found some footing offensively and cut the deficit to 12 after three quarters.
However the Lady Eagles never got any closer. Wingate grew the lead to as many as 20 early in the fourth quarter, taking down C-N in the third meeting of the season.
Carson-Newman shot below 30% in quarters one, two and three.
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) led C-N in scoring with 19 points on six for 18 shooting. Alvey was also in double-figures with 13 points and eleven rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Both junior guards were named to the all-tournament team after scoring in double-figures in all three tournament games.
Emily Gonzalez (Lenoir City, Tenn.) was excellent off the bench, scoring a career-high ten points on an efficient four for six shooting.
C-N had 19 offensive rebounds, eleven more than Wingate but only had 16 second chance points. The Lady Eagles only committed seven turnovers in the game.
Laney Beale and Hannah Clark both scored 18 points for Wingate who had two others scoring in double-digit as well.
The Lady Eagles now turn their attention to the NCAA's Selection Show on Sunday March 10th at 10:30 p.m on NCAA.com. Full details on who the Lady Eagles will be playing can be found on cneagles.com and on social media by following @CN_Eagles on Twitter (X).
