November 9, 2012

Lady Eagles edged by Cobras 59-56 in season opener

HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (0-1) women’s basketball team fell in their season opener 59-56 to the Coker Cobras (1-0) in the SAC-Conference Carolinas Challenge at Tex Turner Arena on the Lincoln Memorial University campus on Friday evening. Carson-Newman and Coker were tied at 56 with 25 seconds remaining before Coker’s Hailey Yohn hit a three-pointer with twenty seconds remaining in the contest to give the Cobras a 59-56 lead, which would be the final score.

HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (0-1) women's basketball team fell in their season opener 59-56 to the Coker Cobras (1-0) in the SAC-Conference Carolinas Challenge at Tex Turner Arena on the Lincoln Memorial University campus on Friday evening.

Carson-Newman and Coker were tied at 56 with 25 seconds remaining before Coker's Hailey Yohn hit a three-pointer with twenty seconds remaining in the contest to give the Cobras a 59-56 lead, which would be the final score.

"I'm really upset with this game," said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey. "We're going up against an opponent that didn't have the best their best post player playing, didn't have their point guard playing, and we really struggled for most of the night."

Carson-Newman was led in scoring by Shyra Brown's 12 points, as she was 4-15 from the field in the game. Freshman Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) once again provided a spark from three, recording nine points on her trio of three-pointers in the contest.

Coker opened the game strong with a 10-2 run. The Lady Eagles would come back with a run of 11-3 to even the score at 13. The two teams played back-and-forth basketball for the rest of the half, and the score was tied at 26 at halftime. Carson-Newman's largest second-half would be three points on two occasions, both thanks to three-pointers from Burstrom.

With 25 seconds remaining in the game, Brown hit a free throw that evened the score at 56. Corker quickly went down the court and took the lead on Yohn's three-pointer. After a Carson-Newman time out with 11 seconds remaining, Burstrom missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with two seconds remaining and Coker grabbed the rebound to secure the victory.

Coker was led in scoring by Amber Lau, who scored 21 points and hit four three-pointers.

"I don't now how telling this will be for the rest of our season, but right now we struggle offensively, we struggle making good decisions," said Mincey. "As a head coach right now this is probably one of the most disappointing nights since I've had as the head coach at Carson-Newman."

Carson-Newman's second contest in the SAC-Conference Carolinas will be against the Erskine Flying Fleet on Saturday Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. The Fleet was picked to finish ninth in the preseason Conference Carolinas poll and feature nine new players for the 2012-13 season.

Fans can listen to Saturday's game against Erskine on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network, with coverage beginning with the Farm Bureau Countdown to Tipoff at 3:45 p.m. and the broadcast is also available www.cneagles.com.