Hill drops 30, Lady Eagles soar past E&H
February 18, 2026

Hill drops 30, Lady Eagles soar past E&H

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.  – Caroline Hill scored a career-high 30 points on 10 for 11 shooting to power Carson-Newman (17-8, 13-6 SAC) to a 91-63 win over Emory & Henry (6-19, 4-17 SAC) on Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse.

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Mike Mincey Interview

VIDEO: Caroline Hill Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.  – Caroline Hill scored a career-high 30 points on 10 for 11 shooting to power Carson-Newman (17-8, 13-6 SAC) to a 91-63 win over Emory & Henry (6-19, 4-17 SAC) on Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse.

Hill poured in a career-high 30 points on an absurd 10 for 11 shooting and drilled eight of her nine triples, the second-most threes in a game by a Lady Eagle in program history.

"We needed that tonight," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "These last four games have been tough and long. I'm glad we got to rotate everybody, but it started with a catalyst like Caroline (Hill) and her being able to put the ball in the bucket. Her and Nuckolls (Mattie) really helped us stretch this game out in the third. In that third quarter, she got unconscious."

Hill's elite shooting day was on display in each quarter. She made two baskets in each of the first two frames, and had 12 points and two triples at halftime. Four of her eight triples came in a 12-point third quarter. The sophomore closed the day with two more triples in the fourth.

"I just kept shooting the ball if I had a little space," Hill said. "I haven't been able to shoot threes a lot these past couple games. So, I said today I'm going to get open and shoot the ball."

Despite some quality first half 8-0 and 9-0 scoring runs, C-N only led by six at intermission.

Hill's third quarter would turn the game on its head. After a Nuckolls layup, Hill buried back to back triples in less than 25 seconds to increase the lead to 48-34. Another Nuckolls layup was sandwiched between two more Hill triples and the lead ballooned to 22, just four minutes into the third quarter. Nuckolls closed a 21-0 scoring run with a triple to elevate the lead to 27, less than halfway through the third frame.

Delaney Weddington (Morristown, Tenn.) scored five straight, part of her career-high 10 points and C-N kept the lead at 27 after three quarters.

C-N made all six of its third quarter three-pointers.

The Lady Eagles kept pouring it on in the fourth quarter. After a Chloe Heath (Maryville, Tenn.) jump shot, C-N's next four made field goals were three-pointers – two each by Hill and Nuckolls to increase the margin out to 37 with 5:36 left. Nuckolls was a perfect three of three from long range and finished with an efficient 19 points in 24 minutes.

E&H would outscore C-N 17-8 in the final five minutes, but C-N still won comfortably 91-63.

Carson-Newman turned the ball over 13 times in the first 20 minutes, but had just six in the second half, helping to outscore E&H 51-29 in the second half.

"All those turnovers were self-inflicted wounds," Mincey said. "We came out in the second half and only turned it over six times and we did a good job assisting on a lot of those shots."

Carson-Newman reset season-highs in two key categories. Powered by Hill's eight of nine day from three, C-N made a season-high 56 percent of its triples. It's the team's ninth game with double digit threes this season.

The Lady Eagles entered the game having been outrebounded in four of its last five games. They completely flipped the script in this game. C-N dominated the glass, grabbing a season-high 53 rebounds. The +25 margin on the glass is the biggest discrepancy since having a +33 margin in a 74-47 win over Mars Hill on February 16, 2022.

Leading the effort on the glass was Cybil Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.). The freshman snagged a career-high 10 rebounds, three were offensive rebounds.

Keeleigh Rogers (Knoxville, Tenn.) stuffed the stat sheet, grabbing seven rebounds and leading the team with seven assists.

Carson-Newman's offense scored 34 fastbreak points, its second-most in a game this season.

The Wasps were led by Rhyan Harris' 19 points. She made nine of her 13 shots.

Carson-Newman plays its final road game of the season at Newberry on Saturday afternoon. Tip off with the Wolves is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 1:45 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.

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