Pearce swats 100th shot as C-N coasts over Emory & Henry
January 19, 2022

Pearce swats 100th shot as C-N coasts over Emory & Henry

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Sydney Pearce became the seventh player in program history to block 100 shots as Carson-Newman shot 53 percent from the field in the second half to pull away from Emory & Henry Wednesday evening securing its second-largest win of the year in a 90-51 decision at Holt Fieldhouse.

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Mike Mincey Interview

VIDEO: Sydney Pearce Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Sydney Pearce became the seventh player in program history to block 100 shots as Carson-Newman shot 53 percent from the field in the second half to pull away from Emory & Henry Wednesday evening securing its second-largest win of the year in a 90-51 decision at Holt Fieldhouse.

Pearce notched three blocks to bring her career total to 102 and is the second player recruited by Mincey to join the list joining Kaitlyn Cupples who finished her playing days fourth. The senior added 12 points, her second straight double-digit scoring night, and seven rebounds.

"We all have roles on the team," Pearce said. "Everyone does a good job at filling their role. I feel like for me it's one thing I'm good at is reading the ball and blocking shots and that's one way that I can help my teammates out.

"Going against someone like Lindsey [Taylor] in practice every day that is so good and strong, she prepares me to go against other people. If I can score on her in practice then I feel like I can score on anybody."

Overall for the evening, the Lady Eagles shot 50 percent from the field and after missing their first 14 three-point attempts made six of their final 10 attempts. Carson-Newman (15-3) ripped down 50 rebounds and scored 29 points off of 26 turnovers.

The two teams combined to score 85 bench points as Mincey's reserves finished 19-for-31 from the field and made five of the team's six trifectas in their first meeting with Emory & Henry (7-9).

"I think our reserves came in and gave us a lot of energy," Mincey said. "In today's game, they gave us a lot of point production. In a game like today, our starters didn't all have it together to score the way they are capable of scoring. It's nice to have 10 players that you can rely on to try to wear down your opponent. Harli came in much like she did at Catawba and gave us a lift from scoring. She went three of five from three. Abby continues to play well. Sydney had another double figure scoring game. I think [Makayla] is all over the place. A lot of the stuff she does doesn't always go on the stat sheet but she had five steals, four rebounds. She is very effective with how she plays with her effort."

Harli Smith (Jamestown, Tenn.) led the home unit with a season-high 15 points going 6-for-9 from the field with four assists. Makayla Alvey (Dandridge, Tenn.) produced a career-high nine points adding five steals and four boards.

Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) threw in 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds adding four steals in 19 minutes. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) added 13 points, three steals and three assists.

After an administrative technical foul was issued to the home group for malfunctioning shot clocks gave the Wasps a 1-0 edge before the ball was tipped, the Lady Eagles scored nine straight and 15 of the first 18 points to open up a 15-3 lead midway through the first quarter. With 2:21 to go in the first, the margin was 12 at 21-19. However C-N failed to score for nearly 3:30 minutes.

Emory and Henry took advantage scoring 12 unanswered points off of trifectas to knot the score at 21. It was the longest scoring run yielded by Mincey's crew this year and just the second double-digit burst conceded. After the teams traded buckets, the Lady Eagles finished off the first half by scoring 18 of the final 23 to go on top 45-30 going into the locker room.

In the third, C-N shot 60 percent from the field but turned the ball over seven times leading to four points for the Wasps. The Lady Eagles slowly built a bulge before closing the quarter on an 8-1 burst to open up a 67-41 advantage after 30 minutes.

Carson-Newman held the visitors without points over the final 4:25 of the game scoring the game's last seven shooting 53 percent in the final 20 minutes. The Lady Eagles did not miss more than two shots in a row in the second half until missing their final three.

The Wasps shot 22 percent in the second half and 30 percent for the game with two players finishing in double figures. Brylee Jones led all scorers with 17 points making seven of 14. Taylor Owens chipped in 12 as the bench scored 42 of the team's 51 points in the affair.

The Lady Eagles go back on the road on Saturday to face off against first-place and 17th-ranked Wingate at Cuddy Arena for a 2 p.m. affair. Broadcast coverage airs on radio at Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and with video and audio streams on cneagles.com/live starting at 1:45 p.m.

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