VIDEO: Emily Gonzalez Interview
EMORY, Va. – For the second straight meeting, No. 5/4 Carson-Newman (6-0, 4-0 SAC) used a strong third quarter to get past Emory & Henry (3-4, 0-3 SAC) on Tuesday afternoon at the King Center.
"We really had to adjust in the second half," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "Credit to them, they came out with a good press breaker that worked. The key story for us in the first half is that our offense did not show up. They took away the paint and they didn't give us anything easy. Came out in the third quarter with some press adjustments and forced some turnovers. That 26-point scoring really helped give us a cushion to finish this game."
Carson-Newman has now won its first six games to start the 2024-25 season and has won all six by double digits.
The Lady Eagles won their 20th straight game when shooting better than their opponent, just barely doing so in this game 39.2 to E&H's 38.6 percent shooting.
Jennifer Sullivan (Knoxville, Tenn.) paced Carson-Newman in scoring with a game-high 23 points and made five of her seven three-pointers. It's her fourth 20+ point game through the first six games of the season.
Emily Gonzalez was C-N's only other player in double-figures, scoring a career-high 16 points and making a career-high six shots. She also finished tied for the team lead with five assists and five steals. It's her second straight game in the King Center with at least five steals.
"She's such an active player," Mincey said. "She gets in there and makes things and is really good in the press. Really good defender and has accepted the role of being in the starting lineup. It's the most she's played as a Lady Eagle and she has really taken advantage of that. She was great last year in this building and had an even better game today."
Carson-Newman used the three-point shot to get off to a good start. Sullivan and Penland hit a combined three triples in the first two minutes to help C-N lead 13-10 at the first media timeout. The two teams struggled to score down the stretch in the opening quarter, both only making one basket each in the four minutes and the game was tied at the end of the first quarter.
The Lady Eagles continued to struggle offensively, and saw E&H grab its first lead of the game after a pair of baskets two minutes into the second quarter. Gonzalez and Sullivan made back to back shots and Carson-Newman took the lead back at 26-25 4:55 left in the half. Sullivan would go on to score the final 10 points of the half to give Carson-Newman a 33-28 halftime lead. C-N held E&H to just one basket in the final five minutes of the half.
C-N shot just 33% in the opening half and was held to a season-low 33 first half points, but did make seven three-pointers.
Penland scored the first five points for Carson-Newman after halftime and extended the lead to eight points. After two E&H turnovers, C-N made them pay with back-to-back baskets to lead 45-34 with 4:24 to go in the third. Carson-Newman would quickly score 11 of the next 15 points in a three-minute stretch and lead by 19 after three quarters. C-N made eight of its final ten shots in the period and shot 65 percent as a team in the period.
The Lady Eagles pushed the lead out to 20 points after a Mattie Nuckolls (Chatsworth, Ga) layup and Caroline Hill's first three-pointer with 4:04 to play in the contest. C-N would hold the margin as the game came to an end, winning by 19 points.
Carson-Newman scored 29 points off 25 E&H turnovers in the game and also scored 21 fastbreak points compared to none from the Wasps.
The Lady Eagles made 11 three-pointers, making double-digit trey balls for the third time in the past four games.
E&H was led by Emma Santoro and Hannah Spainhour who had 17 and 15 points, respectively.
The Lady Eagles continue their three-game road trip against Anderson on Saturday. Tipoff is at 2:00 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 1:45 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.
