Newberry Hands No. 12 Carson-Newman Third Straight Loss, 67-64
NEWBERRY, S.C. — The 12th-ranked Carson-Newman women’s basketball team dropped its third-straight contest as it fell to Newberry, 67-64, on Wednesday in South Atlantic Conference action at Eleazer Arena.
NEWBERRY, S.C. — The 12th-ranked Carson-Newman
women’s basketball team dropped its third-straight contest as
it fell to Newberry, 67-64, on Monday in South Atlantic Conference
action at Eleazer Arena.
With the loss, the Lady Eagles fall to 16-3 on the season and 6-3
in the conference, while Newberry improves to 14-5 overall and 7-2
in SAC play.
Turnovers and offensive rebounds plagued C-N, as it turned the
ball over 23 times and gave up 15 offensive boards. Newberry scored
40 of its 67 points off the Lady Eagle miscues.
“They took it to us in the second half,” C-N head
coach Dean Walsh said. “Regardless of how banged up and
injured we are right now, you still have to do the little things
and someone else has to step up.”
“Tonight we didn’t box out in the second half and we
missed too many layups, and then we committed 23 turnovers against
no pressure. That’s inexcusable. If you hold them to 38
percent shooting, you expect to come out with a win, but the little
things got us tonight.”
Junior guard Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) netted 15
points and collected four steals to lead C-N, while forward Shari
Buford (Hampton, Ga.) produced a double-double with 11 points and
11 rebounds. Guard Candis Clear (Memphis, Tenn.) added 10 points in
the loss.
LeAnne Watson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) fired in a game-high 20 points
to pace Newberry, while Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) and Helen
McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) chipped in 15 and 13 points,
respectively. Watson also grabbed 12 rebounds, while Bulcher pulled
down 10 boards.
Newberry held an early 8-4 lead, but the Lady Eagles answered, as
Katlin Moore (Fort Mill, S.C.) converted a three-point play to
spark an 18-4 run that gave C-N a 22-12 lead with 7:39 left in the
first half.
With C-N leading 31-21 with less than a minute remaining,
Newberry’s Ashley Holland (Duncan, S.C.) and Watson sank four
consecutive free throws to trim the Lady Eagles’ lead to
31-25 heading into the locker room.
The Lady Eagles maintained their lead early in the second half and
led by as many as seven points after Moore knocked down three free
throws to give C-N a 43-36 advantage at the 13:56 mark.
But Newberry rallied to take the lead with a 17-3 run capped off
by a Leeara Creet (Brisbane, Australia) layup with 9:04 remaining
that gave the scarlet and grey a 53-46 advantage.
C-N fought back to tie the game at 60 with 2:31 remaining, but a
Jessica Bearzatto (Melbourne, Australia) jumper at the 1:46 mark
gave Newberry the lead for good.
The Lady Eagles return to the hardwood on Wednesday in their final
non-conference game of the season as they travel to Bristol, Tenn.,
to take on King College. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. C-N will look to
sweep the season series as it defeated the Lady Tornado, 82-49, in
the Lady Eagle Shootout in November.
