VIDEO: Mike Mincey, Campbell Penland and Tori Rutherford Postgame Press Conference
DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Behind four double-digit scorers six-seeded Carson-Newman (23-9) held off Anderson's second half rally to advance to the Southeast regional semifinals with a 75-71 win on Friday afternoon at North Georgia's Convocation Center.
"That's a really solid win for us," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "Two SAC powerhouses in my opinion, Anderson is a great team. Our kids really showed up this afternoon to let people know that last week, we did not play our best. Today, we played much better and were very fortunate to come out with the win."
The win marks back to back seasons that Carson-Newman has won its opening round game at the NCAA Tournament. It's the first time that has been accomplished in the program's history. The Lady Eagles have won their first round game three of the past four seasons.
C-N's victory snaps Anderson's 12-game winning streak, the sixth longest active winning streak in the country.
With a 75-point scoring effort, Carson-Newman remains unbeaten this season and has won 24 straight games when scoring at least 70 points.
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) and Jennifer Sullivan each tied the team high in scoring with 17 points. Both guards made six field goals, with five of Sullivan's coming from long range. It's her 12th game this season with three or more three-pointers.
Two other Lady Eagles scored in double-figures. On her birthday, Makayla Alvey (Dandridge, Tenn.) made six shots and scored 15 points to go along with seven rebounds and a team-high three steals. 11 of those points came in the opening half.
Tori Rutherford (Rutledge, Tenn.) recorded her first career double-double, going for 12 points and ten rebounds.
"A lot of starters that did not play well last week really wanted to play much better today," Mincey said. "We certainly knew that they could do that. We played more up to our potential and got to that magic number which is above 70 points."
2⃣4⃣th straight win when scoring 7⃣0⃣ points or more
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) March 14, 2025
4⃣double-figure scorers led by @cjpen14 and @Jennsullivan02's 1⃣7⃣ each
1⃣st career double-double for @torijrutherford
The Lady Eagles are moving on ����@CNwbasketball x #TalonsUp pic.twitter.com/UDeXvvR2xa
Both teams went back and forth in the opening quarter. Neither side led by more than three points with the two teams trading the lead seven times in the opening ten minutes.
Leading by one to start the second quarter, Carson-Newman went on the game's first scoring run. Three-point baskets by Emily Gonzalez (Lenoir City, Tenn.) and Penland ignited a 9-0 scoring burst and C-N led by ten, three minutes in the second quarter. That quality start to the second quarter, continued throughout the entire period. The Lady Eagles outscored 23-10 in the second quarter to lead 40-26 at halftime.
In that strong second quarter, Carson-Newman shot 57 percent from the field and made five of its seven triple tries. Sullivan made all three of her attempts.
Anderson scored six of the first eight points after halftime to make it a 12-point game forcing C-N into a timeout. Mincey's crew responded well after the timeout, scoring the next eight points to gain its largest lead of the game at 18 halfway through the third quarter. The Trojans would rally very quickly, scoring the next 13 points to make it a five-point game. They outscored C-N 16-3 in the second part of the third quarter and it was quickly 53-48.
AU scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to make it a one-point game 60 seconds in. Mincey used a timeout, and his team went on another run. C-N went on an 11-2 scoring run with Penland scoring seven of the team's 11 points during the stretch and the lead was back to eight with 5:37 to play.
AU's Passmore made two free throws, and the game was back down to one-possession with 3:24 to play. Just more than 60 seconds later, she made two more free throws after a Rutherford basket and it was a one-point game. The Lady Eagles got a defensive stop and then executed a perfect baseline inbound play. Two seniors connected as Alvey hit Rutherford for a layup and the lead was four with 42 seconds left.
That two possession lead was huge, as AU could not score a three-pointer in their final possessions. Penland and Rutherford both made their free throws to finish close out an opening round win in the NCAA Tournament.
The two teams shot an identical 41 percent from the field and each made 28 baskets, but Carson-Newman made nine three-pointers.
C-N won the rebounding battle with both teams grabbing 11 offensive rebounds. The advantage was in second chance points, where the Lady Eagles scored 17 points and limited AU to just six second chance points.
Diamond McDowell led Anderson with her 20th double-double this season, going for 23 points and 10 rebounds. Zamiya Passmore also had a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists but she only made four of her 15 baskets.
Carson-Newman now readies for a Southeast regional semifinal contest with two-seeded Coker tomorrow evening at 5:00 p.m. Coverage with the Eagle Sports Network begins at 4:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
