VIDEO: Postgame Press Conference Mike Mincey and Lindsey Taylor
SALISBURY, N.C. – Carson-Newman (23-9) overcame a season-high 23 turnovers thanks to an 11-0 scoring run in the fourth quarter to advance to the regional semifinals with a 61-55 opening round victory over Augusta (22-9) Friday afternoon.
"Anytime you can win, it's a good win," Carson-Newman women's basketball head coach Mike Mincey said. "It doesn't matter if its pretty or not. Obviously Augusta has had a great year. They are well-coached and very athletic. We had a lot of problems going up against their defense. I thought our defense did just enough to help us come out with a huge win. It's the NCAA Tournament, everyone is good. We are just fortunate to move on to the next day."
The victory is Carson-Newman's eighth NCAA tournament win, fifth in the opening round and the second consecutive tournament trip with a win in the opening round.
The Lady Eagles turned the basketball over 23 times, the most in a game since recording 26 in a SAC semifinal win over Catawba back in 2022.
It was the Jaguars that got out to the hot start early. C-N started 2 of 7 from the field and Augusta went on a 7-0 run to lead 12-4 halfway through the first quarter. The Lady Eagles overcame those early struggles and closed the quarter by outscoring AU 14-4 to lead by two points after the opening frame.
The Eagles grabbed a little momentum after Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) hit back-to-back triples to make it a 26-23 game. C-N made just two baskets in the final five minutes but still led by two at halftime.
Augusta scored 12 of the first 16 points after halftime to lead by six with 4:24 to play in the third period. The Lady Eagles scored the next seven points to regain a one-point advantage with 2:05 to play. AU scored the last three and led by two after three quarters.
"We've had to grind out some of these games," Mincey said. "In the past, we haven't been able to grind out these kinds of wins. We've had to outscore people. This year, with this group we have actually played fairly good defense. They average 69 points a game and we held them to 55. Our defense is why we won this game."
An Autumn Phillips layup in the opening minutes gave AU a four-point lead with 6:53 to go. From that point on, it was all Lady Eagles. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) drilled her second three-pointer of the game and then stole the ball on an inbound to score five points in less than 15 seconds to put C-N ahead by one. Wykle stole the ball again in the backcourt and nailed a jump shot to force an Augusta timeout. The senior scored seven straight points in 35 seconds.
The scoring run continued in large part due to C-N's impressive defense. Two layups capped an 11-0 scoring run over nearly a six-minute stretch where Augusta was unable to score as C-N pushed the lead to seven. Wykle made five free throws down the stretch and C-N held off the Jaguars for a six-point win.
C-N's fourth quarter rally is just the fourth time it has overcome a deficit after three quarters and win. It's just the 14th time under Mincey that the Lady Eagles have won when trailing after three periods.
Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) finished the game with her eighth double-double of the season and 23rd of her career after going for 12 points and 11 rebounds. Wykle led the team in scoring with 17 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter. Penland rounded out the scoring attack with 10 points, making three of her four three-pointers.
The Lady Eagles dominated on the glass, securing a +14 rebounding advantage. C-N is 18-1 now when outrebounding the opposition. The offensive glass was also kind as C-N grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and turned it into 17 second chance points in the win.
1⃣7⃣second chance points
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) March 15, 2024
1⃣2⃣ fourth quarter points from @B_Wykle
8⃣th double-double for @19LindseyTaylor this season@CNwbasketball grinds one out in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament ���� pic.twitter.com/idgaZzaOzc
Augusta barely outshot C-N from the field, 37% to 35%. It's only the third time all year Carson-Newman has won a game when shooting worse than its opponent.
The Jaguars were led by Mone Florence who scored 16 points and nailed four of the team's five three-pointers.
The win for Carson-Newman sets up a regional semifinal matchup with the number six-seed Anderson who defeated Wingate 74-55. Tomorrow's meeting will be the fourth time the schools meet this year with C-N holding a 2-1 advantage.
Broadcast coverage airs on the Eagle Sports Network starting at 4:45 for "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) with an audio stream available on cneagles.com/live for free.
