Suffocating first half defense powers Lady Eagles to 76-59 win over Royals
January 10, 2015

Suffocating first half defense powers Lady Eagles to 76-59 win over Royals

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A first half defensive effort that resembled velcro aided the No. 25 Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (13-1, 7-1 South Atlantic Conference) to a 76-59 victory over the Queens (N.C.) Royals (4-9, 2-6 SAC) Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse.

VIDEO: Mike Mincey Interview

VIDEO: Allison Hodge Interview

VIDEO: Game Highlights

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A first half defensive effort that resembled velcro aided the No. 25 Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (13-1, 7-1 South Atlantic Conference) to a 76-59 victory over the Queens (N.C.) Royals (4-9, 2-6 SAC) Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse.

"I thought we did such a good job in the first half," head coach Mike Mincey said. "It's one of the best games we've played from an intensity standpoint. Our press was looking really good. The kids were shooting it in rhythm and not passing the ball around."

The story of the first half was once again turnovers for the second straight game. Carson-Newman forced 20 miscues and converted that into 20 points in the opening half. Queens shot the basketball well but did not get a lot of chances going 7-for-16 from the floor in the first half.

Lacey Singletary, the Royals leading scorer, picked up her second foul at the 14:06 mark of the first half and did not play the rest of the stanza. The Lady Eagles outscored the Royals 40-16 the rest of the frame including a 13-2 from the 11:21 mark to the 7:44 point.

Carson-Newman turned the basketball over just four times in the opening half and assisted on 16 of its 18 made field goals. All 10 Lady Eagles that played in the first half scored led by eight points by freshman forward Allison Hodge (Blaine, Tenn.).

Carson-Newman struggled to find the bottom of the basket in the second half making just 3 of its first 20 field goal attempts allowing Queens to close the gap to 59-47 with 6:56 to play in the game. The Lady Eagles made nine of their final 11 field goal attempts to hold off the comeback and cruise to the victory.

"We had to change some things because we got a little tired, lost our legs and weren't getting the heat out of our press," Mincey said. "We were giving up stuff on the back end. We always do that late. It's three games in a row now where we need baskets late whether we are behind or late."

Hodge led the way with 13 points, five rebounds and four steals while junior guard Jai Jai McLaughlin (Knoxville, Tenn.) added 13 points, four assists and three steals.

"We were trying to speed them up," Hodge said. "Make them handle the ball which we knew coming in wasn't what they wanted to do. They wanted to play a slow tempo game so we knew pressing them and getting a lot of heat on them was what we needed to do."

The Lady Eagles turned the ball over just 10 times in the game, the fewest turnovers by a Carson-Newman team since 10 versus Newberry on February 18, 2012.

Singletary finished with 13 points and four rebounds while McKell Oliverio had 13 point despite missing her final five field goals of the game.

Carson-Newman ventures to Brevard on Wednesday to take on the Tornados at 6 p.m. The game can be heard on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station 106.3 WPFT-FM or by visiting cneagles.com/live.

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