Lady Eagles dominate boards in 83-67 win against King

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman's Zoriah Williams (Calera, Ala.) had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Lady Eagles controlled the paint in an 83-67 win over visiting King on Wednesday afternoon.

With the win, the Lady Eagles improve to 2-1, while King falls to 0-3.

Williams had four points and four rebounds during a 13-3 C-N run to start the second half as the Lady Eagles blew open a 13-point game at halftime. C-N built a 57-34 lead with 15:55 to play in the basketball game and never looked back. Lady Eagles' head coach Mike Mincey liked what he saw from his team against his alma mater.

"The biggest thing for us is to win a game against a D-II school in close proximity to us," Mincey said. "We met most of our goals in terms of turnovers and three-point field goals allowed, so that was big for us."

The Lady Eagles would go on to lead by as many as 24 in the game at the midway point of the second, before King cut into the margin late.

Sophomore Shannon Depew (Newport, Tenn.) scored 20 points and had five boards to pair with Williams and carry the Lady Eagles. Depew made 4-of-9 three-point attempts after she was a game-time decision to play. 

"Shannon left practice Tuesday's night with a stomach virus," Mincey said after the game. "She said she could go and played pretty well considering. (Zoriah) had a double-double, what more can you say about that? I hope we get that kind of performance out of her every game."

The Lady Eagles started both halves fast, jumping out to an 11-3 lead in the game's opening minutes. Depew opened the game with back-to-back three pointers to give C-N a 6-3.

The Lady Eagles never trailed and outscored King a combined 22-6 in the first three minutes of each half.

Junior Courdne Miles (Burlington, N.C.) added 10 points and three rebounds for the Lady Eagles, who outrebounded the Tornado, 43-29, including 19-9 on the offensive boards.

Seniors Megan Hunter (Ashland City, Tenn.) and Lundyn Howard (Chattanooga, Tenn.) each had five assists for the Lady Eagles.

King's Mikki Oliver led all scorers with 21 points. She made 4-of-5 three-point attempts. Alley SProuse and Brooke Johnson each added 12 for the Tornado.

Carson-Newman returns to action this Saturday in the 2011 Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic. It will face No. 12 Delta State (Miss.) on Saturday at 4 p.m. and No. 15 Lander (S.C.) on Sunday at 3 p.m.  Lincoln Memorial will also face both teams in the first game both days in Holt Fieldhouse.

-C-N-