Lady Eagles use defense to handle Cobras, 70-61

BRISTOL, Va. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles held Virginia Intermont College to 18 first-half points and pulled away in the final half in a 71-60 road win on Thursday afternoon.

With the win, the Lady Eagles move to 7-2 on the season.

C-N stifled V.I. to just 25 percent shooting in the first half and 0-for-6 from three-point range to build a nine-point lead at the break, 27-18. The Lady Eagles held the Cobras to a lone free throw and no field goals over the final five minutes of the half to seize control.

Senior Zoriah Williams (Calera, Ala.) closed the half with four consecutive made free throws and junior Whitney Moody (Blountville, Tenn.) added a jumper to spark the Lady Eagles to the final six points of the half.

Carson-Newman grabbed control in the opening minutes of the second half, again using its defense. V.I. could manage only one field goal in the opening three and a half minutes of the half to build a double-digit lead at 32-21 on a steal and jumper by forward Nikki James (Cookeville, Tenn.).

The Cobras cut the Lady Eagle lead to seven at 52-45 with 8:18 to play in the game on a three-pointer by Jayla Lane, but C-N would answer with a 12-2 run to build its largest lead of the contest at 64-47 with just over four minutes to play.

C-N forced 29 turnovers in the win and held a 23-8 edge in points off turnovers.

The defense carried a Lady Eagle offense that shot just 30 percent in the first half, but shot 52 percent in the second to pull away.

Williams led the Lady Eagles with 16 points and seven rebounds. She was 8-of-10 at the line. Sophomore Rechelle Dye added 13 points in 18 minutes and was 4-of-6 from the floor.  

T.T. Webb led V.I. with 19 points.

Carson-Newman returns to action on Saturday against Columbus State (Ga.) in Columbus, Ga. Tipoff is at 1 p.m.