Lady Eagles upset No. 5 Tusculum in final minute
Jan. 17, 2009
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman overcame a seven-point deficit with 2:17 remaining to pull out a 90-87 upset win over No. 5 Tusculum Saturday night in South Atlantic Conference action at Holt Fieldhouse.
Junior forward Shari Buford had a monster night in leading the Lady Eagles to victory. The Hampton, Ga. native scored a career-high 28 points on 13-of-19 shooting and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
With the win, the Lady Eagles improve to 13-3 overall and 4-1 in the SAC. Tusculum falls to 14-2 and 4-1 in conference play.
"It's a big win," C-N coach Dean Walsh said. "This puts us back in the race as far as what we need to do in the conference. I thought it was a heck of a basketball game. To me it had to be fun to watch from a fan's standpoint."
Including Buford, C-N had five players reach double figures in scoring. Angela Volentine (North Platte, Neb.) finished with 16 points, while Ashley Tipton (Knoxville, Tenn.) added 13. Ashley Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) and Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) chipped in 12 points apiece. Kyle also had six assists and five steals.
Jasmine Gunn paced the Pioneers with 20 points, while Jasmine Parker tossed in 17 and Stephany Neptune had 16. Ashli Oliver netted 11 points in the loss.
The Lady Eagles outshot Tusculum from the floor as they made 54 percent (34-of-63) of their shots, including a 4-of-13 outing from 3-point range. The Pioneers shot 46.7 percent (35-of-75) from the field and were just 6-of-22 from behind the arc.
Tusculum held a 42-41 advantage at the break, as neither team was able to take control of the game in the first 20 minutes.
Buford kept the Lady Eagles in the mix with a dominant first half down low, scoring 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Volentine was also in double figures at the half with 10 points.
"I thought Shari did a tremendous job tonight on the offensive end," Walsh said.
The Lady Eagles opened the second half on a 13-6 run capped by a Tipton 3-pointer with 16:48 remaining that gave C-N a 54-48 lead.
Tusculum battled back and took a 71-69 lead on a layup by Kat Spears with 8:16 on the clock. The Pioneers then outscored C-N 16-11 over the next six minutes to push their lead to 87-80 with 2:17 left.
But C-N controlled things on both ends of the floor the rest of the way. A Kyle layup with 21 seconds remaining gave C-N the lead for good at 88-87.
After a pair of made free throws by Mendenhall pushed the Lady Eagles lead to 90-87, Tykira McDaniel blocked a Jasmine Parker 3-point attempt as time expired to seal the win for C-N.
"Down the stretch, we were calm and patient and never got rattled," Walsh said. "That was the difference. We kept our composure down the stretch."
The Lady Eagles return to action on Wednesday when they host Brevard College in a SAC matchup at Holt Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
