MARS HILL, N.C. – No. 25 Carson-Newman (14-5, 11-4 SAC) saw its three-game winning streak come to a halt on Wednesday night at Stanford Arena, losing to Mars Hill (13-6, 10-5 SAC) 71-62.
Mars Hill has won three straight meetings against Carson-Newman at home.
"We pretty much lost every statistical category we were trying to win," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "They were the tougher and more physical team tonight. They wanted it more than we did. I appreciate how we responded there in the second quarter when Jenn (Sullivan) went down. CP (Campbell Penland) did a good job getting to the line and near the rim to score 20 points. They had eight offensive rebounds in the second half and that killed us."
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) led Carson-Newman in scoring with 20 points, nine of which came from the foul line. Emily Gonzalez (Lenoir City, Tenn.) also finished in double-figures, going for 11 points on five of eight shooting.
Emily Gonzalez scored five of C-N's first 7 points and led 7-6 with 4:52 to play in the opening frame. Carson-Newman went cold from the field, missing nine of its final ten shots and trailed by five points after the first quarter.
Mars Hill took its largest lead of the half at eight with 4:03 to play in the half after a Daisy Gale three-pointer. When Carson-Newman needed a late scoring run, Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) delivered. The senior guard went on her own 8-0 scoring run in the final 100 seconds including a three-pointer with five seconds to play in the opening half to put the Lady Eagles up by two at halftime. That shot was the first time C-N led in the second quarter.
Carson-Newman carried the momentum it built from the second into the third quarter. Back to back baskets from Penland and Makayla Alvey (Dandridge, Tenn.) extended C-N's lead to six with 6:05 left in the third quarter. MHU cut into the deficit with offensive rebounding. It scored seven of the final 11 points and trailed by just one after three quarters. MHU had seven offensive rebounds in the third period.
Gonzalez scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, but MHU would take momentum from there. The Lions made the next three baskets to lead by three with 7:38 to play. An Abigail Johnson (Cookeville, Tenn.) layup sandwiched in between more MHU points. It scored six more points and extended the lead to seven with 4:05 to play. C-N scored the next four points and drew within three with three minutes to play, but never got any closer. The Lady Eagles made just one of their final 11 shots and went the final 3:39 without a basket, seeing the Lions make their free throws down the stretch for the nine-point win.
The Lions outscored Carson-Newman 22-12 in the fourth quarter and held C-N to just three field goals in 15 attempts.
MHU outshot C-N from the field, shooting 45 percent to the Lady Eagles' 38 percent. The Lions were an efficient six of 12 from three while Carson-Newman was just three of 17.
The Lady Eagles lost the rebounding battle by five, with the offensive glass even at 11 apiece.
Mars Hill got a career-high 21 points from freshman guard Daisy Gale. Maddie Gillie scored 20 points and made three triples as well.
This the fourth time a 71-62 final score has occurred in Carson-Newman women's basketball history.
Carson-Newman concludes the month of January on Saturday versus Anderson. Tipoff between the Lady Eagles and Trojans is set for 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.
