Stingy defense, massive surge powers C-N over Newberry
January 29, 2022

Stingy defense, massive surge powers C-N over Newberry

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman locked down defensively yielding 27 percent shooting from Newberry using a 42-8 scoring run after blanking the Wolves in the second quarter to secure a seventh straight home win, 78-87, on Saturday at Holt Fieldhouse in South Atlantic Conference play.

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Mike Mincey Interview

VIDEO: Makayla Alvey Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman locked down defensively yielding 27 percent shooting from Newberry using a 42-8 scoring run after blanking the Wolves in the second quarter to secure a seventh straight home win, 78-87, on Saturday at Holt Fieldhouse in South Atlantic Conference play.

"We got down 11 and Newberry was shooting the ball well and playing well," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "We weren't getting a lot of energy from our offensive end because we weren't making shots that we were capable of making. It all started clicking in the second quarter because we were making shots. I thought we were flying around at the defensive end. Newberry typically moves the ball really well. We did a good job contesting their shooters. It's the first time in my career we held an opponent to zero in one quarter of play. A lot of times when you play hard, good things can happen."

Carson-Newman (17-4, 14-3) topples Newberry (6-13, 6-10) for a 12th consecutive meeting highlighted by holding the Wolves without points for 11:50 of game action using a 22-0 burst, the longest run since a 24-0 outburst at Shorter on Dec. 29, 2018.

Finishing the day with 51 percent shooting from the floor, Mincey's team shot at least 50 percent for the sixth time this season as four players finished in double figures. The team went 7-for-14 from long range.

Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) moved past Mika Wester and into 10th on the school's scoring list with a game-high 20 points making seven of 12 from the field adding four rebounds and four assists.

Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) produced 15 points making six of nine from the field. Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) chipped in 13 points and a couple steals. Addison Byrd (Nashville, Tenn.) added 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Rounding out the solid days, Makayla Alvey (Dandridge, Tenn.) scored six points and tied for the team-high with seven rebounds.

"My mindset early was that normally we get a lot of offensive points off of defense but our press wasn't really working early in the game," Alvey said. "I did cuts and they got me the ball. We got down 11 points in the first quarter and we said that we have to have better defense. We had to get some stops and we put a lot of pressure in the front court so I think that had a lot to do with that."

After scoring the game's first four points, C-N was unable to get stops seeing Newberry go on a 16-4 surge to go on top 16-8 on a Courtney Virgo three-pointer. The Wolves built up an 11-point lead at 26-15 with 1:16 to go in the first frame. Byrd drilled a three and the Lady Eagles faced their largest deficit after a quarter this year at 26-18.

However after the bucket from the Wolves, C-N did not allow a point over the final 11:16 of action as Newberry missed its final 18 shots of the first half and 18 in a row going into the locker room. The Lady Eagles scored the final 22 points of the half and led 37-26 at halftime.

The Wolves scored the first points of the third but the Lady Eagles used a 10-0 surge to build out a 57-34 lead capping what would be a 42-8 surge over the first through third periods. C-N settled on a 66-46 lead going into the final period.

The Orange and Blue scored the game's first eight points of the quarter blowing open a 74-46 with 6:42 to play off of two foul shots from Wykle. Newberry failed to make a field goal over the final 5:40 of the game but made all eight foul shots.

Newberry opening the game by making eight of its first nine shots but made eight of its final 48 to close out the day. However the Wolves connected on all 18 of their free-throw attempts tying a SAC record and is the second-most in league history without a miss. They were the ninth team to make all of its foul shots and only Ashland's 20-for-20 tally is more attempts.

Three Wolves finished in double figures led by 11 points from Payton Cronen. Ericka Wiseley and Giulia Bongoiorno each added 10 points apiece as nine different players put in a bucket. Newberry recorded a season-low 15 turnovers but the Lady Eagles capitalized with 21 points off of those giveaways.

The Lady Eagles continue at Holt Fieldhouse on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. against Tusculum looking to complete the season sweep of the Pioneers. Air time on the Eagle Sports Network is 5:15 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" on Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) with video available on cneagles.com/live.

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