Cougars end Lady Eagles run in the NCAA Tournament
March 13, 2015

Cougars end Lady Eagles run in the NCAA Tournament

GAFFNEY, S.C. – The No. 2 seed Columbus State Cougars (31-1) defeated the Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (19-11) Friday afternoon in the opening round of the Southeast Regional First Round 58-40 at the Timken Center.

VIDEO: Mike Mincey and Whitney Kyle Press Conference

GAFFNEY, S.C. – The No. 2 seed Columbus State Cougars (31-1) defeated the Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (19-11) Friday afternoon in the opening round of the Southeast Regional First Round 58-40 at the Timken Center.

"The game plan kind of worked out in our favor," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "They go 7 of 33 from the three. That's what we wanted them doing was out there shooting. It was just unfortunate that we gave up 26 offensive rebounds. I think if there was a chance we had to win the basketball game we had to rebound the basketball a whole lot better than we did."

Columbus State scored the first bucket of the game, but the Lady Eagles immediately responded scoring on the next possession to jumpstart an 11-2 run over the next five minutes to take an 11-4 advantage with 13:13 left in the first half. The Cougars would not lead again until the 4:52 mark of the first half on a three-pointer from Brea Walker to put the No. 2 seed ahead 20-17.

The Cougars ended the first half on an 11-0 run over the final 6:01 to take an 11-point lead at 28-17 into the locker rooms. Neither team shot the ball well from the floor in the first half as Carson-Newman outshot Columbus State 32 percent to 26 percent. The Cougars were 4-for-21 from three-point range in the first half, but collected 14 offensive rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

Junior forward Taylor Peterson (Mount Juliet, Tenn.) led all scorers with seven points while collecting four rebounds. Freshman forward Jecca Simerly (Talbott, Tenn.) chipped in six points, three rebounds and two assists.

The Cougars scored the first two points out of the locker room once again lead balloon to 16 at 35-19 with 16:21 to play in the contest. At that point the Lady Eagles began to chip into the lead as the second seed began 3-for-13 from the floor.

A 9-0 run cut the deficit to five points at 35-30 with 11:03 to play in the contest. It would mark the first of three times that the Lady Eagles would cut the Columbus State lead to five points over the next three minutes.

With the Cougars on top 39-34 with 8:11 to play in the game, Columbus State went on a 12-0 run to take a 51-34 lead 4:54 to play in the game that started with a three-pointer by Dee Dee Deshazer and was capped by a jumper from Ashley Asouzu.

Carson-Newman held Columbus State to its second-lowest field goal percentage of the season at 29 percent (20-for-69). The Cougars previous low was 26.6 percent (17-for-64) in a 48-28 win at Young Harris on February 15.

"They are a very good defensive team, one of the best in the country," Mincey said. "We just never got in a flow except that one run where we cut it to 39-34. We were getting some high-lows and Tatum [Burstrom] banked in a three. Then they went on that run to close the game for an 18-point victory."

The Cougars attempted their second-most three-pointers on the year by going 7-for-33 for 21.2 percent from beyond the arc.

The Lady Eagles did not have a player finish in double figures as a trio of players had eight points. Senior forward Whitney Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) had eight points and four rebounds, Simerly had eight points, four rebounds and two assists while sophomore forward Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.) finished with eight points, five rebounds and two blocks.

The second-seed had a 51-32 rebound advantage while having a 26-9 lead on the offensive glass. Despite the hefty margin, the Cougars only outscored the Lady Eagles by four on second chance points at 16-12.

Friday marked the first time in 12 games that a team defeated the Lady Eagles when Carson-Newman held an opponent to under 60 points.

Kyle set the Carson-Newman women's basketball single season record for free throw percentage in a season with a minimum of 50 attempts by going 60-for-67 from the charity stripe for 89.5 percent.

"I'm really proud of the girls especially when we had two big ones go down with Jai Jai (McLaughlin) and Lacy (Miller) during the season," Kyle said. "We really kept fighting and they didn't want the season to end. We turned it around and the girls gave it everything we got. And I'm really proud of them for that."

The Lady Eagles were one of eight remaining Division II teams this season and one of the final 28 teams out of 1,040 among three divisions to be undefeated.

Carson-Newman finishes the season 19-11, 13-9 in South Atlantic Conference play. The 19 wins are the most by a Mike Mincey-coached team in four seasons while the 13 conference wins matched a program record set by the 1989-90 team.

Three players were named to postseason All-SAC teams for the first time since 2010-11 and just the fifth time three or more student-athletes earned postseason accolades in 26 years as a SAC program.

"We wanted these kids to get to the NCAA Tournament," Mincey said. "Because I felt like once they got here and they could taste it that we are going to try, they know now how fun it is and what an experience it is. When we get back to start working in the spring and next fall, they'll know what we are talking about."

Follow along with all of the latest Carson-Newman women's basketball news on cneagles.com and follow @CNathletics and @CNwbasketball on Twitter.

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