Williams, Depew power Lady Eagles past rival Tusculum, 73-67

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. --- Shannon Depew scored 20 points to lead a strong Carson-Newman frontcourt effort as the Eagles defeated Tusculum College 73-67 in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action at Holt Fieldhouse Wednesday evening.

Zoriah Williams added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Eagles (13-8, 7-6 SAC), who outrebounded the Pioneers (15-6, 9-4 SAC) by a 38-36 margin. It was just the fourth time in 21 games that Tusculum lost the rebounding battle to the opposition.

Alishia Mosley came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points for the Pioneers, going 5-for-6 from three-point range to help Tusculum erase a 10-point first-half deficit. But, the Eagles bounced back after trailing 53-48 with 11 minutes left to snap a three-game losing streak to the Pioneers.

Whitney Moody also reached double figures for the Eagles with 12 points, and Courdne Miles came off the Carson-Newman bench to tally nine points, six rebounds and four steals in 21 minutes. The Eagles shot just 42.9 percent (27-for-63) from the field, but went 6-for-13 from three-point range and connected on 10 of their 14 foul shots in the second half in the victory.

Staci Hicks scored 15 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds for Tusculum, and April McCann added nine points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals before fouling out late in the second half. The Pioneers finished the game shooting 40 percent (22-for-55) from the field but nailed eight three-pointers in 16 attempts.

Depew hit two three-pointers in the first five minutes to help the Eagles to a quick 15-5 lead. The Pioneers fought back to tie the game at 26-26 on a three-pointer by Mosley with 7:17 left in the half. Despite tying the game twice more, Tusculum was unable to take the lead and Carson-Newman went to halftime with a 37-35 advantage.

Depew led all players with 13 points in the first half, followed closely by 12 from Williams on 6-for-9 shooting. Mosley paced the Pioneers with 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting, while Hicks added seven points and six boards.

Tusculum finally gained the lead at 43-42 on a three-pointer by Kendal Baxter with 16:11 remaining, and a three-pointer from Mosley gave the Pioneers their biggest lead of the night at 53-48 with 11:29 to go. However, a putback by Miles and a three-pointer from Depew knotted the score at 53-53 with exactly 10 minutes remaining.

The Pioneers took their last lead of the night at 56-55 on a layup by McCann with 9:04 to play, but Williams answered with a putback of her own miss to restore the Eagles' lead at 57-56 with 8:46 to go. Moody followed with a three-pointer on Carson-Newman's next trip, part of a 7-0 run that gave the Eagles a 62-56 lead with 6:30 left.

Tusculum was able to close the deficit to three points twice, including at 70-67 on a three-pointer by Mosley with 12 seconds left, but Megan Hunter hit three foul shots in the final eight seconds to lock up the win for Carson-Newman. Hunter finished 6-for-8 at the stripe for the Eagles, part of a 13-for-18 performance in the game for the hosts.

Baxter finished with eight points and sank a pair of three-pointers, moving her past former Carson-Newman standout and current assistant coach Ashley Tipton into fourth place on the SAC career three-pointer list with 223. Tipton made 222 three-pointers for the Eagles from 2005 to 2009.

The Pioneers will be back on the road Saturday when they travel to Wingate for a SAC matchup beginning at 2:00 p.m. Carson-Newman travels to Hickory, N.C. on Saturday to face Lenoir-Rhyne at 4 p.m.