Newberry Hands No. 12 Carson-Newman Third Straight Loss, 67-64

NEWBERRY, S.C. — The 12th-ranked Carson-Newman women’s basketball team dropped its third-straight contest as it fell to Newberry, 67-64, on Monday in South Atlantic Conference action at Eleazer Arena.

With the loss, the Lady Eagles fall to 16-3 on the season and 6-3 in the conference, while Newberry improves to 14-5 overall and 7-2 in SAC play.

Turnovers and offensive rebounds plagued C-N, as it turned the ball over 23 times and gave up 15 offensive boards. Newberry scored 40 of its 67 points off the Lady Eagle miscues.

“They took it to us in the second half,” C-N head coach Dean Walsh said. “Regardless of how banged up and injured we are right now, you still have to do the little things and someone else has to step up.”

“Tonight we didn’t box out in the second half and we missed too many layups, and then we committed 23 turnovers against no pressure. That’s inexcusable. If you hold them to 38 percent shooting, you expect to come out with a win, but the little things got us tonight.”

Junior guard Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) netted 15 points and collected four steals to lead C-N, while forward Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) produced a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Candis Clear (Memphis, Tenn.) added 10 points in the loss.

LeAnne Watson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) fired in a game-high 20 points to pace Newberry, while Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) and Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) chipped in 15 and 13 points, respectively. Watson also grabbed 12 rebounds, while Bulcher pulled down 10 boards.

Newberry held an early 8-4 lead, but the Lady Eagles answered, as Katlin Moore (Fort Mill, S.C.) converted a three-point play to spark an 18-4 run that gave C-N a 22-12 lead with 7:39 left in the first half.

With C-N leading 31-21 with less than a minute remaining, Newberry’s Ashley Holland (Duncan, S.C.) and Watson sank four consecutive free throws to trim the Lady Eagles’ lead to 31-25 heading into the locker room.

The Lady Eagles maintained their lead early in the second half and led by as many as seven points after Moore knocked down three free throws to give C-N a 43-36 advantage at the 13:56 mark.

But Newberry rallied to take the lead with a 17-3 run capped off by a Leeara Creet (Brisbane, Australia) layup with 9:04 remaining that gave the scarlet and grey a 53-46 advantage.

C-N fought back to tie the game at 60 with 2:31 remaining, but a Jessica Bearzatto (Melbourne, Australia) jumper at the 1:46 mark gave Newberry the lead for good.

The Lady Eagles return to the hardwood on Wednesday in their final non-conference game of the season as they travel to Bristol, Tenn., to take on King College. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. C-N will look to sweep the season series as it defeated the Lady Tornado, 82-49, in the Lady Eagle Shootout in November.