JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Lincoln Memorial (6-7, 5-5 SAC) ended No. 22/16 Carson-Newman's (11-4, 8-3 SAC) 20-game home winning streak on Wednesday evening, leaving Holt Fieldhouse with a 71-67 win.
The loss is Carson-Newman's first home loss since the end of the 2022-23 season and ends the third-longest active home winning streak in DII. Carson-Newman's home winning streak ends at 20 games, the second longest in program history.
"Credit to LMU they came ready to play," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "I thought they played exceptionally well. They finished well around the rim and got to the free throw line, that was the difference in the first half. What happened at Coker, happened here as well. We were getting to the one-foot range and we just were not making shots near the rim. Super proud of our start to the third quarter, but we need to do a better job scoring near the rim."
Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) was Carson-Newman's top scorer with 20 points, going nine for 14 from the floor. She also snagged a team-high six rebounds. Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) finished in double-figures with 14 points as well.
LMU jumped out to a good start by making seven of its first eleven shots to lead 18-14 with 3:12 to play in the opening quarter. A pair of Abigail Johnson (Cookeville, Tenn.) layups helped trim into the deficit, but LMU led by three after one.
After C-N scored the first bucket of the second quarter, LMU scored the next six points and forced C-N to miss its next six shots to extend the advantage to 28-21 with 4:57 remaining in the first half. Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) would score seven of Carson-Newman's nine points in the second quarter, but LMU scored ten of the final 14 points to lead 40-28 at intermission. The Railsplitters made more free throws in the second period (10) than C-N had total points (9).
Mincey's crew had a quick burst to start the third quarter. C-N went on a 9-0 scoring run in the first 90 seconds of the period to turn a 12-point halftime deficit into a three-point game. Taylor's inside scoring helped C-N tie the game at the end of three quarters. She scored ten of C-N's final 12 points in the quarter.
Carson-Newman took its first lead of the game with 5:31 to play in the contest. Jennifer Sullivan (Knoxville, Tenn.) nailed her second three-pointer of the game to put C-N up. Later, C-N scored back-to-back buckets to go up 67-66, but LMU's Lexi Patty answered with her first basket of the game to give the Railsplitters a one-point lead with 1:25 remaining. Carson-Newman had several good looks in the painted area down the stretch, but was unable to score a bucket and LMU made its free throws late. The Lady Eagles missed their last five shots of the game and did not score in the final two minutes.
Despite its offensive struggles early in the game, C-N managed to shoot 42 percent, just two percent better than LMU. The Lady Eagles made five of their 17 three-pointers. Carson-Newman was 19 of 35 on shot attempts statted as layups.
It's Carson-Newman's first loss this season when outshooting its opponent and ends a 25-game winning stretch when shooting a better percentage.
Lincoln Memorial won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Carson-Newman 45-28 and 14-7 on the offensive glass.
Kamil Collier scored a game-high 22 points and had 14 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the year. Alexa Smiddy finished with 21 points and eight assists for LMU as well.
The 71-67 final score is not a scorigami. This score has now happened twice in program history.
Carson-Newman is back on the floor Saturday afternoon at Newberry. Tipoff between the Lady Eagles and Wolves is set for 12:00 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 11:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
