VIDEO: Lindsey Taylor Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (3-0, 1-0 SAC) got out to a blazing start and never looked back, defeating South Atlantic Conference foe Lenoir-Rhyne (1-2, 0-1 SAC), 92-72 on Saturday afternoon in Holt Fieldhouse.
"All three games against them last year, they had all been low-scoring games," head coach Mike Mincey said. "All of them came within two or three points… We like to play fast, and we want to get up and down the floor. That was one of the things we were not able to accomplish last year… I thought we worked hard defensively, got after it, and definitely shot the ball well."
Carson-Newman's home winning streak extends to 16 straight games.
The Lady Eagles have now won 17 of their last 18 home openers and are 13-1 under Mincey.
Carson-Newman jumped out to a quick start. Jennifer Sullivan (Knoxville, Tenn.) nailed a pair of triples to start the scoring 70 seconds into the game and a pair of layups got the Lady Eagles out to a 10-3 lead in the opening two and a half minutes. C-N would score the next eight minutes in the quarter thanks to four made three throws and two layups to lead 18-3 with 4:40 to play in the first quarter. After a pair of LR three-pointers, Carson-Newman would mount another scoring run. Mincey's squad scored the final 15 points and took a 33-9 lead after one quarter.
The Eagles held the Bears to 3-of-16 shooting in the first frame. Meanwhile, C-N shot 57.1 percent from the field, and Sullivan led the way with nine points.
Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) scored the first six C-N points of the second quarter. The hot start for Taylor in the second quarter led to a ten-point second period for the grad student.
The Lady Eagles pushed the lead out to 29 points, three minutes into the second quarter after a Tori Rutherford (Rutledge, Tenn.) three-pointer. The final four minutes of the first half was a game of runs. C-N scored nine straight points in two minutes to jump out to its largest lead of the first half at 34 points. LR would answer by scoring the final nine points and trail C-N by 25 points at intermission.
C-N started the third quarter scoring the first ten points thanks to buckets from four different players. That helped open up its largest lead of the game at 36 with 6:07 to play in the third quarter. C-N outscored LR 26-20 in the third frame to lead 79-48 after three quarters. Taylor added another eight points in the frame.
Lenoir-Rhyne outscored Carson-Newman 24-13 in the fourth quarter to trim the deficit down to 20 points, the closest the game was since the opening quarter.
Taylor paced the Eagles with a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Sullivan added 20. All Eagles scored, as C-N tallied 26 bench points. Mattie Nuckolls (Chatsworth, Ga.), Abigail Johnson (Cookeville, Tenn.), and Makayla Alvey (Dandridge, Tenn.) combined for 17 of the Eagles 26 bench points.
Against a Lenoir-Rhyne team that had forced 27 turnovers per game in the first two contests, C-N flipped the script, turning it over only ten times and forcing 17 Bear turnovers.
"Taking care of the ball was key," Taylor said. "Tori [Rutherford] did a great job pushing the ball up the floor, getting into the pace we want to play… L-R wants to slow it down and play a halfcourt game. I think we controlled the game and did what we wanted to do."
Carson-Newman stays at home when it welcomes Tusculum to Holt Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 5:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
A live stream of the contest is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/flowbb.
