AU’s second-half surge hands C-N its second straight loss
ANDERSON, S.C. – Anderson (11-11, 7-9 SAC) outscored Carson-Newman (16-6, 12-4 SAC) by 16 points in the second half to hand the Lady Eagles their second straight loss 84-76 on Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
ANDERSON, S.C. – Anderson (11-11, 7-9 SAC) outscored Carson-Newman (16-6, 12-4 SAC) by 16 points in the second half to hand the Lady Eagles their second straight loss 84-76 on Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
"We are not defending well or rebounding at all," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "I didn't feel good at the half at all. We are struggling to play defense without fouling. We talk about that a lot, but we refuse to play defense without fouling."
Carson-Newman sent the best free-throw shooting team in the SAC to the line 26 times, and they capitalized and made 23 of them. Ciara Harris was a perfect 16 of 16 and is the first opposing player with double-digit free throw makes in a game since Catherine Hendershot for Belmont Abbey in 2023.
The loss is C-N's third straight at Anderson.
After a back-and-forth start, C-N would gain early control of the lead on a Jennifer Sullivan (Knoxville, Tenn.) three-pointer, three minutes into the game. Carson-Newman would lead for the entire first quarter and scored the final six points to lead by seven after the first frame.
Caroline Hill (Kingsport, Tenn.) caught fire early in the second quarter. She scored 11 straight points for C-N including a trio of three-pointers to help extend the lead to nine. Sullivan would follow Hill's scoring burst with eight straight of her own. Sullivan's eight came during an 11-0 scoring run that elevated the Lady Eagles lead to 15 with 3:41 left in the half. Anderson won the final three minutes, outscoring C-N 12-4 to make it a nine-point game at intermission.
That late momentum for AU would carry over into the third quarter. Sullivan scored six early third quarter points to get the advantage back to 11 with 6:40 left in the third. Kyla Cain would help the Trojans found some offensive momentum. She scored seven straight to make it a four-point game. AU tied the game late in the third, but Mattie Nuckolls (Chatsworth, Ga.) and Hill baskets helped C-N take a two-point lead into the final frame.
Anderson would take its first lead halfway through the fourth stanza. Ashley Hill scored a basket to put the Trojans up one with 4:46 to play. Emily Gonzalez (Lenoir City, Tenn.) scored a layup to answer, but C-N would go on a drought. The Trojans scored the next points only one basket to put the game way. C-N finished the game by missing six of its final seven shots.
Sullivan led the Lady Eagles with 24 points and four made three-pointers. It's her 18th career 20-point game and her 23rd career game with three or more threes.
Caroline Hill followed in with 16 points and drilled four threes. It's the seventh straight game a Lady Eagle had scored in double-figures off the bench.
Gonzalez contributed 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Carson-Newman suffered its first loss of the year when outshooting its opponent, doing so just narrowly 43.7 to AU's 43.3. C-N was 52 percent in first half and 33 percent in the second. AU flipped the script and went from 35 percent to 50 percent in the second half.
The duo of Ciara Harris and Kyla Cain led AU's charge. Harris scored 26 and made 16 free throws, while Cain scored 19 of her 20 in the second half. It's the second straight game C-N's defense has allowed an opponent to have two players score 20 or more points.
Carson-Newman ends this road stretch at #25 Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday. Tip off with the Railsplitters is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 5:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A live camera of the broadcast crew "On Press Row" will also be available on YouTube.
