Cold shooting lets C-N down against USC Aiken
November 16, 2025

Cold shooting lets C-N down against USC Aiken

Carson-Newman (1-1) suffered through its worst shooting game in over a decade in a 62-54 loss to USC Aiken (1-1) on Sunday afternoon at Shuford Arena.

VIDEO: Mike Mincey Interview

HICKORY, N.C.  – Carson-Newman (1-1) suffered through its worst shooting game in over a decade in a 62-54 loss to USC Aiken (1-1) on Sunday afternoon at Shuford Arena.

"After a 5-0 start to the game, I thought we were going to shoot it decently," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "We didn't make some makeable shots and they (USC Aiken) had a really good first half and shot lights out. I kind of felt good at half, knowing as good as they shot to only be down seven. Came out in the third quarter, had opportunities and were close but we just didn't play clean basketball. We are still trying to find the identity of this team. Kudos to them, they had a coaching change and put a new roster together. They played well and probably wanted us more than we wanted them and they certainly showed it by how they played."

The win for USC Aiken is their program's first win over C-N since 2010, ending a 10-game losing streak.

For the second straight game, C-N suffered through a poor shooting day. The Lady Eagles made just 26.6% of their shots, the lowest shooting percentage in a game since making just 24.3% of their shots in a 51-72 loss to Anderson on January 29, 2014. It's the fifth-worst shooting game for the program in the past 20 seasons and the third-lowest mark in the Mincey era.

The Lady Eagles suffered through four field goal droughts of three and a half minutes or more, with three of them last more than five minutes.

Carson-Newman got off to a quick start. Jennifer Sullivan (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored five of her team-high 11 points in the first 80 seconds to give C-N the early advantage. The Pacers settled in defensively and would go on a 10-0 scoring over a six-minute stretch to grab the lead. After grabbing hold of the lead with four to play in the first, USC Aiken would never relinquish it the rest of the game and led by two after the first quarter.

Aiken pushed its lead quickly out to eight, by scoring nine of the first 11 points of the second quarter. Both offenses began to settle in, but it was the Pacers outshooting the Lady Eagles. Aiken shot 69 percent in the second quarter and used a pair of 5-0 bursts to lead 37-30 at intermission. C-N's 43 percent shooting was its best in any quarter throughout the game.

Neither side could get shots to drop in the early stages of the third quarter. C-N made two free throws to make it a five-point game early in the frame. Later in the third, Chloe Heath's (Maryville, Tenn.) first career field goal brought the Lady Eagles within three at the 1:21 mark. Aiken scored seven of the final nine points to end the frame and take an eight-point lead into the fourth.

The scoring run for Aiken would extend to 10-0 thanks to a Nika Kurdija three-pointers on the first possession of the fourth. Carson-Newman would respond and show excellent fight, scoring nine of the next 11 points to make it a four-point game again with 6:52 left. A Keeleigh Rogers (Knoxville, Tenn.) three-pointer was the last of the scoring run and would go down as C-N's last field of the game.

Carson-Newman missed its final eight shots of the game, only making five free throws over the final 6:52 of the game. Aiken scored nine points during that stretch and only made three field goals.

Sullivan was the only double-figure scorer with 11, and only four other players made multiple buckets. Emily Gonzalez scored nine points and led the team with three steals.

Caroline Hill (Kingsport, Tenn.) drilled two three-pointers and scored eight points.

In her Lady Eagles debut, Harmony Sullivan (Morristown, Tenn.) pitched in with four points in nine minutes on the floor.

The Pacers were led by Morgan McDermott's 17 points and four made three-pointers. Mahkayla Premo and Nika Kurdija also finished in double figures with 11 and 10, respectively.

C-N forced Aiken into 18 turnovers and only had nine itself. Despite that lopsided turnover number, Aiken still outscored the Lady Eagles 11-5 in points off those turnovers.

Carson-Newman is back on the floor later this week as it heads to the North Georgia Tournament for a matchup with Clayton State in Dahlonega, Ga. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.

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