Lady Eagles come up short at #14 North Georgia
In a closely contested game, North Georgia’s (4-3) defense was enough to defend home court by defeating Carson-Newman (1-1) 69-62 on Saturday afternoon at the UNG Nighthawk Classic.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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20 | 12 | 17 | 13 | 62 |
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19 | 15 | 19 | 16 | 69 |
DAHLONEGA, Ga. – In a closely contested game, #14 North Georgia's (4-3) defense was enough to defend home court by defeating Carson-Newman (1-1) 69-62 on Saturday afternoon at the UNG Nighthawk Classic.
"I thought the kids played hard," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "I'm not happy that we lost and its not what we want to do, but happy that we were still in the game and had a fighting chance. It's a little bit of a rollercoaster ride with this group at the moment. I thought we defended our tails off tonight. We know that if we can just shoot a little bit better, we might not be staring at the two losses we have."
In this series, the home team has now won six straight games. UNG levels the all-time series at 9 with the win.
It was an inconsistent offense that doomed C-N on the road. After making eight shots in the first quarter, Carson-Newman would go on to only make 10 over the next three quarters in the seven-point loss. The Lady Eagles shot just 22% after the first quarter and finished the game shooting 27.7% from the field.
Jennifer Sullivan led all scorers with 23 points on seven of 22 shooting. She buried four three-pointers. She was joined in double-figures by Mattie Nuckolls and Emily Gonzalez who scored 11 points each.
The Lady Eagles came out firing from distance. Jennifer Sullivan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Mattie Nuckolls (Chatsworth, Ga.) buried three pointers on the first two possessions and C-N jumped out to a four-point lead in the first minute. UNG would settle in and tie the game on multiple occasions before eventually grabbing a four-point advantage with 3:37 left in the first. C-N would finish the quarter well, scoring eight of the final 12 points to lead by one.
North Georgia would score the first five points of the second quarter and never relinquish its lead again. Spanning from the first and beginning of the second, Carson-Newman missed ten straight shots but still only trailed by 4 after the first few minutes of the second period. Shooting woes continued throughout the second and it led to the Nighthawks jumping out to a six-point lead. Sullivan buried just C-N's second and last field goal of the second quarter to make it one a two-point game at intermission.
C-N would tie the game after Sullivan scored a layup 20 seconds into the third, but the Lady Eagles never got any closer. UNG went on an extended 10-3 scoring run over the next two and a half minutes to take its largest lead of the game at the 7:11 mark of the third period. Mincey's team continued to hang around. Chloe Heath (Maryville, Tenn.) scored five straight points in the third quarter to bring the deficit back down to two. C-N used the free throw line late in the period to make it a four-point game heading into the fourth quarter.
Sullivan scored a layup four minutes into the fourth quarter to bring her team within a possession again. The Lady Eagles had multiple possessions trailing by two, but could not convert on their opportunities and would see UNG push it back to a four-point game on an Averie Jones layup. Sullivan was clutch once more drilling a three-point field goal with two minutes to play to make it a one-point game. The Nighthawks would have an answer thanks to a Kendall Emener three-point play. C-N managed to get back within a possession with 90 seconds left, but UNG made five free throws over the final 68 seconds and held the Lady Eagles scoreless to pull away with a seven-point win.
Zaynah Preston had a career day for UNG scoring a career 22 points on four made triples. It's the second straight season she has reset her career high against the Lady Eagles. Three other starters joined Preston in double-figures.
Carson-Newman's defense and three-point shooting kept the game close. UNG made just 37.3% of its shots and just eight of its 21 three-pointers. C-N's defense also forced 15 turnovers and scored 12 points off of them.
The charity stripe was C-N's friend, making 18 of its 22 attempts. Gonzalez led the strong shooting from the line by making seven of her eight free throws.
Carson-Newman will face the Nighthawks again in the home opener on Tuesday afternoon. Tipoff with the is set for 2 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 1:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
Team Stats
#14 North Georgia
| Game Statistics | Carson-Newman | #14 North Georgia |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (18-65) | (22-59) |
| Field Goal % | 27.7% | 37.3% |
| Rebounds | 40 | 45 |
| Assists | 12 | 18 |
| Turnovers | 9 | 15 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 12 | 8 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 3 | 4 |
| Pts in the Paint | 18 | 24 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 4 | 2 |
| Bench Pts | 11 | 1 |
