Lady Eagles Fall to Bulldogs 70-66
November 10, 2013

Lady Eagles Fall to Bulldogs 70-66

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (1-1) women’s basketball team fell to the Barton Bulldogs (1-1) 70-66 during the final day of the South Atlantic Conference-Conference Carolinas Challenge at Holt Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (1-1) women's basketball team fell to the Barton Bulldogs (1-1) 70-66 during the final day of the South Atlantic Conference-Conference Carolinas Challenge at Holt Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon.

Carson-Newman led Barton 63-58 with just over three minutes left to play, only to see the Bulldogs end the game on a 12-3 run to hand the Lady Eagles their first loss of the season.

"I told the team in the locker room, you're at home and up by five with three minutes left on the clock, you have to keep that lead," said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey. "You have to go ahead and finish the victory there."

Junior Lashawnda Peacher (Springfield, Tenn.) led Carson-Newman in scoring as she scored a career-high 15 points, 12 of which came in the first half helping the Lady Eagles build an early advantage.

"Lashawnda is one of those that's able to create her own shot, she's a good athlete and is a good-sized guard that can go in there and get some rebounds and stick-backs," Mincey said. "Anytime we have people stepping up like Lashawnda we have to have some other people do the same."

Peacher was joined in double-digit scoring by freshman Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.), who scored 11 points and she has now scored in double-digits in her first two games at Carson-Newman.

The game was a tale of two halves, with Carson-Newman and Barton both shooting the basketball better in the first 20 minutes. After Carson-Newman led 41-38 with 2:46 left in the half, the Bulldogs finished the first half on an 11-2 run to lead 49-43 at the break. Carson-Newman shot 51 percent from the field in the first half while Barton shot 47 percent.

The Lady Eagles shot only 33 percent (8-for-24) in the second half, with Barton only shooting 19 percent in the second half.

The main difference was 3-pointers, with Carson-Newman going 1-for-9 from beyond the arc, in contrast to Saturday's nine 3-pointers in the victory over Lees-McRae.

Barton was led in scoring by reigning Conference Carolinas Player of the Year Nyesha Willie with her 23 points, and she collected a double-double with 10 rebounds. She was joined in double-figures by Brianna Thomas (12 points), and Cassandra Brown and Tiffany Webster who both scored 11.

Carson-Newman will return to action on Wednesday Nov. 13 by welcoming the No. 24 Limestone Saints to Holt Fieldhouse for a 6 p.m. tipoff.

Wednesday's game will be carried on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station WPFT-FM 106.3 FM, with coverage beginning at 5:45 p.m. with "The Countdown to Tipoff," and live video streaming is also available on www.cneagles.com.

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