VIDEO: Tori Rutherford Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – We begin our preview of the Carson-Newman women's basketball team with a look at the backcourt with help from redshirt junior guard Tori Rutherford.
The Lady Eagles lose just one starter from a NCAA Tournament team, but the loss is three-time All-American Braelyn Wykle. In her five playing seasons, she reset the program's all-time scoring mark, and nailed a program-best 370 three-pointers. The five-time first-team all-SAC performer is the fourth all-time leading scorer in DII and has the seventh-most three-pointers in a career as well.
"Braelyn was a really great leader," Rutherford said. "You always knew she was going to give 110 percent and you always knew she was going to be an offensive threat against any kind of defense. We are going to miss that this season but the biggest thing we can learn is that someone else has to step up. I think with this team its not going to be the same person every night."
Rutherford is one of three returning starters in the back court for the Lady Eagles. She was a fixture in C-N's starting lineup, starting all 34 games, averaging 23 minutes a night. She averaged 6.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and two steals per game and shot 40.5% from the field and a career-best 32.1% from long range.
"Last year was a really great season," Rutherford said. "My teammates were always super encouraging. I have to give a shoutout to some of the ones that I go against in practice everyday like Karli (Haworth). It's really awesome to compete against one another because iron sharpens iron. To be a good point guard you have to have good teammates around you. Everyone that I was playing with made my job super easy."
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) has averaged 10.7 points per game during her three seasons at Mossy Creek and is coming off a season where she served as C-N's third leading scorer. Penland was terrific down the stretch of the season, scoring double digits in 12 of the final 16 games. She has made 163 three-pointers in her C-N career, sixth-most in program history. The senior guard reached the 1,000 point plateau in the NCAA Tournament this past season, becoming the 31st player in program history to achieve 1K.
After the start of the new calendar year, Makayla Alvey (Dandridge, Tenn.) would go on to start 22 of the final 23 games of the season averaging a career-high 25 minutes per game in 34 appearances. She upped her scoring average by three points to 8.4 and shot 27% from three-point range, finished second on the team in rebounds on the team with 6.3 per game, assists with 94 and in steals with 58.
"I've known Campbell basically my whole life," Rutherford said. "It's been awesome to see her progress. She is a really good three-point shooter. Teams are always having to guard her with respect knowing she can shoot. Mak does all the dirty work which is a really important role. We are super glad that she part of the lineup. Can't wait to see the type of season they both have."
Emily Gonzalez joins Rutherford as a junior guard. She averaged 11 minutes per game as a sophomore and had nine games with multiple assists. Gonzalez has 62 career appearances and shoots 42.3% for her career.
"Emily is probably our hardest worker," Rutherford said. "On top of that press she is a demon, she gets after it. I really like playing with her and pressing with her. She is always in the gym working to improve her game."
Two freshmen from a season ago return in the backcourt in Karli Haworth (Maryville, Tenn.) and Madelyn Ladd. Haworth played in 27 games off the bench, averaging 7 minutes per game. She scored more than 2 points per game and drilled 40% of her three-pointers. Ladd played 123 minutes as a freshman, playing double-digit minutes on four occasions
"You can tell that they have both been working hard," Rutherford said. "Ladd is kind of a bigger guard, so it's neat to see her jumper game get better and better. Karli is super quick and can weave through a defense. It's been nice to see them progress. I think they are going to be impact players."
Two newcomers are in the backcourt, one transfer and one freshman. The transfer is Knoxville native Jennifer Sullivan who joins the Lady Eagles from Tennessee Tech. In two seasons with the Golden Eagles, the Former 4A Miss Basketball played in 33 games making two starts. She scored a career-high 12 points in a one-point loss to Missouri this past season. She completed her prep career with 2,300 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists and 250 steals. She was named all-district four times, all-region three times, all-state twice and was named Player of the Year by Knoxville News-Sentinel's PrepXtra and by 5-Star Preps.
"She has been awesome," Rutherford. "Most of us knew her and have at least played against her. It wasn't like we were bringing just some random person in. We kind of already knew her game. Seeing her game as a teammate, you kind of appreciate. I'm excited she is on our team."
Caroline Hill is the lone true freshman on this year's roster. She comes from Dobbyns-Bennett high school where she was one of the more prolific three-point shooters. She set the school record for three-pointers made in her career with 142, while also setting the single-game record with eight three-pointers and single-season record for three-pointers made with 77. The high-quality shooting earned her First Team all-conference honors in her sophomore, junior and senior seasons.
Carson-Newman women's basketball position previews continue on Wednesday with a look at the front court with help from Lindsey Taylor.
