VIDEO: Campbell Penland Interview
GREENWOOD, S.C. – No. 14/8 Carson-Newman (1-0) started and finished well, leading from start to finish in a 90-64 season-opening win against Lander (0-1) on day one of the SAC/Peach Belt challenge Saturday evening at Finis Horne Arena.
"We have some really talented players and if we can clean a few things up we can be a whole lot better," Carson-Newman women's basketball head coach Mike Mincey said. "There was a great crowd in here tonight. Coach (Shelwick) has done a nice job of assembling a roster of really athletic and physical players. There was a lot of fouls called and a lot of free throws so it was hard to get in a rhythm. But to come into this tough place to play put 90 on the board in night one, on the road is certainly something to be happy with.
The Lady Eagles feasted off Lander turnovers, scoring 29 points off 30 Bearcat turnovers. It's the most turnovers that C-N has forced in a game since December 18, 2019, when it forced 30 versus Mars Hill.
The road win for Carson-Newman snapped Lander's 12 game winning streak in home openers. The Bearcats entered the game having won 16 of their past 17 home openers.
The Lady Eagles are now 35-12 all-time in season openers and have won their past three openers. Over the past 12 seasons, Carson-Newman is 11-1 in the first game of the year and is now 11-3 under Mincey in season openers.
In a foul-plagued Lady Eagle debut, Jennifer Sullivan (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored a team-high 20 points and made six of her 12 shots despite only playing 15 minutes. She made a team-high eight free throws as well.
Three other Lady Eagles finished in double digits. Campbell Penland scored 18 points, ten of which came in the third quarter and she made three of C-N's four three-pointers.
Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds. By scoring her tenth point in the game, the graduate student forward passed Coreen Wells for 12th on the all-time scoring list, now up to 1,291 career points with C-N. Tori Rutherford (Rutledge, Tenn.) shot 50 percent and scored ten points to round out the double-figure scorers.
"We have a lot of really good players on our team," Penland said. "We are very balanced. The good thing about us is that it could be anybody's night to show up and do it. We are very blessed to have all these good players on our team."
Mincey and company could not have drawn up a much better start. After winning the opening tip, Taylor hit Sullivan for a right-handed layup seven seconds into the game. That set the tone for the first three plus minutes of the game. The Lady Eagles scored 16 of the first 18 points and began the game on a 16-2 scoring run. C-N eventually grew the lead to as many as 19 in the opening quarter and led 26-8 after the first ten minutes.
"We were just really excited to play," Penland said. "Especially to see how this team is going to mesh and we were just excited to come out and play. We have to do better about carrying that out longer in the first half and not just have the good first quarter."
Lander's Quadaija Langley scored 13 of their first 15 points to start the second quarter to help trim the deficit back down to ten. The Bearcats got as close as eight, but Penland and Rutherford scored the final five points to make it a 41-28 Lady Eagles lead at intermission.
The home team scored eight of the first 11 points and got back within eight points, three minutes into the third quarter. Once again, C-N stiff-armed Lander and did not let them get any closer. Penland scored five points in a row to quickly push the lead back to 13. Penland helped seal a quality third quarter, scoring the final five points of the period to make it a 62-44.
Carson-Newman never let Lander get any closer than 15 points in the fourth quarter. A Sullivan layup helped spark a 9-0 scoring run to grow the lead to 24 with just under four minutes left in the game. Karli Haworth and Mattie Nuckolls (Chatsworth, Ga) scored seven of the final nine points to eventually help seal a wire-to-wire win.
✔️Most turnovers forced in a game since 2019
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) November 10, 2024
✔️ @19LindseyTaylor moved into 12th all-time in scoring
✔️Largest margin of victory in a season-opener since 2018@CNwbasketball cruised by Lander in the season opener���� pic.twitter.com/WezxyokwhJ
Carson-Newman shot 44% from the field and limited Lander to a 35% mark and took 20 more shots. Neither side shot well from three, with C-N making four to Lander's five. The Lady Eagles dominated the painted area, outscoring Lander 54-18 in the paint. It's the most points for Carson-Newman in the paint since scoring 58 versus Mars Hill on December 14, 2022
The game featured 61 fouls, and the two teams shot a combined 73 free throws. Carson-Newman went 24-40 and the Bearcats were 23-33.
Carson-Newman is back on the floor tomorrow afternoon for a neutral site contest versus USC Aiken to round out the SAC/Peach Belt Challenge. Tipoff is set for 12:00 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 11:45 a.m. with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
