VIDEO: Postgame Press Conference Mike Mincey and Braelyn Wykle
SALISBURY, N.C. – Holding Anderson (22-9) to a season-low 54 points, Carson-Newman (24-9) secured the program's largest win in an NCAA tournament game to clinch the program's third berth in Southeast Regional title game with a 74-54 win on Saturday evening in Goodman Gymnasium.
"Great win against a great opponent," Carson-Newman women's basketball head coach Mike Mincey said. "They came out hot from the field. I feel like we played really good defense down the stretch in a really physical game. Our shooting got better as the game went on while theirs went down. One of the things we talked about in games prior against them is that we didn't play them in a situation where they played the day before. We came into this tournament relying on a lot of different players to keep everyone fresh and I feel like our plan really played off today."
The Lady Eagles earn their third trip to a regional championship game and the program's first since 2018 when it won its only regional title. They did so by posting its largest margin of victory in a NCAA Tournament game with the 20-point defeat.
Carson-Newman held Anderson well-below its season average in scoring. Anderson scored just 54 points, 24 less than what is averages and shot a season-low 30% from the field, 14% lower than its average. The Lady Eagles defense forced AU to go on seven different scoring droughts that were more than two and a half minutes. It's the fewest points allowed by C-N in an NCAA tournament game in program history.
"We just locked in and guarded," Mincey said. "They probably missed some shots that they were more than capable of making. I thought we got down and guarded and got the right matches and the girls just really wanted it today. They wanted to get to a regional championship game. It's been a special year with highs and lows. If you're going to beat Anderson, you have to guard them. I would not have thought we would hold them to 54 but I'm glad we did."
After allowing nine baskets in the first quarter, the Lady Eagles defense allowed just 12 field goals over the last 30 minutes of the game.
It was a back-and-forth game in the opening five minutes as the two teams traded the lead four times in the first four minutes. With the game tied at 17, AU scored the final six points of the opening quarter to lead by six after one. There were five ties in the opening ten minutes.
The Lady Eagles responded with a run of their own to start the second quarter. A Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) layup followed by three-pointers from Emily Gonzalez and Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) gave C-N a two-point lead. The layup for Penland gave her 1,000 points in her career. She is the 31st player in program history to reach that mark and joins Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) as the second to achieve 1,000 career points this season.
Wykle stayed hot in the second quarter hitting two more threes to swell the lead to six with 6:54 until halftime. Neither side scored in the final three minutes of the half and C-N went into the locker room up by seven.
C-N scored the first two baskets after halftime to push the lead to double digits with 7:34 to go. Just 25 seconds later, AU ended a near seven-minute scoring drought with a Brittney Stafford jump shot to make it a ten-point game. The Trojans drew within as many as seven points late in the third, but a Mattie Nuckolls (Chatsworth, Ga.) three-pointer extended C-N's lead back to ten with ten minutes to play.
The Lady Eagles rattled off the first six points of the fourth quarter to push the margin to 16. A Penland three-pointer and an Alvey layup made it a 20-point game with 6:51 to play. AU never got closer than 16 points as Carson-Newman continued to stiff arm the Trojans attempt at a rally down the stretch. Penland scored ten of her 15 points in the fourth quarter to help slam the door on an impressive regional semifinal win.
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Eagles are headed to the regional final
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Wykle finished with a game-high 31 points on 10-21 shooting and nailed five three-pointers, all of which were in the first half. It's Wykle's 11th 30-point game of her career.
"This team looks to me to get things going offensively," Wykle said. "I knew that going into the game that if we had a chance to win this game, I needed to take good shots and get going."
Behind Wykle's five threes, C-N made ten in the game and shot its highest percentage of the season at 62.5 from long range. Just 1.1% shy of matching the program's record for three-point percentage set against Clayton State last season.
Penland was C-N's second leading scorer with 15 points on an efficient six for 10 shooting. Alvey finished with 12 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Carson-Newman outrebounded Anderson 43-40 despite losing the battle on the offensive glass 15-6. The Lady Eagles defense was impressive on the first and second shot attempts because AU only scored eight second chance points. Keeleigh Rogers (Farragut, Tenn.) recorded a season-high 12 rebounds to lead the attack.
Anderson was led by Diamond McDowell who finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Carson-Newman matches up with the number five seed Georgia Southwestern in the Southeast Regional championship game on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. GSW won the meeting in Americus back on Nov. 17, 62-58.
Broadcast coverage airs on the Eagle Sports Network starting at 6:45 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.
