C-N survives close affair with AU
January 25, 2025

C-N survives close affair with AU

Playing without its leading scorer Jennifer Sullivan, No. 25 Carson-Newman (15-5, 12-4 SAC) played terrific second half defense to split the season series with Anderson (12-8, 8-6 SAC) collecting a 78-75 victory on Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse.

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Mike Mincey Interview

VIDEO: Lindsey Taylor Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Playing without its leading scorer Jennifer Sullivan, No. 25 Carson-Newman (15-5, 12-4 SAC) played terrific second half defense to split the season series with Anderson (12-8, 8-6 SAC) collecting a 78-75 victory on Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse.

The Lady Eagles' 15th victory is just the second that has comes by single digits. Entering the day, C-N was 1-4 in games decided by less than 10 points.

"I thought our team did a lot of things that we asked them to do against their pressure," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "We were able to make the baskets that were presented out of it and that's why the score was so high there in the first half. It was two very good basketball teams battling each other and shooting it well. It was a barn-burner down the stretch, but as always we are fortunate to grab the win."

Two experienced players helped fill the scoring void without Sullivan's 15.5 points per game. Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) made 11 of her 14 shots to finish with a game-high 22 points. Taylor's stellar scoring day was coupled by a career-high 18 rebounds to help C-N outrebound the conference's top rebounding team. The double-double is her fifth of the season and 28th of her career.

"I knew she was going to be big today," Mincey said. "In all the games we've had her in a Carson-Newman Anderson matchup she has been huge. I'm glad she showed up today to finish with a double-double. Certainly, those 18 rebounds were massive. That was a another big reason on why we won this game today."

Playing in her 100th career game and making her first start of the season, Makayla Alvey (Dandridge, Tenn.) went for her second career 20-point game, making seven field goals in 31 minutes on the floor. She was just two points off her career-high that she scored versus Anderson in the SAC Tournament last season.

"She had some big games against Anderson last year too," Mincey said. "Without Jenn's (Sullivan) services we had to make an adjustment to the starting lineup. I felt like the right call was giving her the start. She is always going to give us all she's got. Her three-pointer there at the end was huge to give us a little cushion."

Both offenses came out blazing hot. Anderson opened up a quick seven-point lead less than three minutes into the game after making six consecutive shots from the field. Luckily for C-N, it was just as good making four straight shots to answer and draw within 1 with 4:32 to play in the opening frame. Anderson had the final scoring run of the opening quarter, scoring seven of the final nine points to lead by five at the end of one.

There were no scoring runs in the second quarter, but C-N scored five quick points to tie the game again two minutes into the quarter. Seven of the eight ties in the opening half were in the second frame. The back-and-forth quarter saw AU score six of the final eight points to lead by one at intermission.

Carson-Newman's defense was good early in the third quarter. C-N forced AU to miss ten of its first 12 shots of the third quarter but still trailed by one with 4:54 to play in the third. The defenses shined in the third quarter, with C-N scoring the final field goal of the period to lead by two after three quarters. The Lady Eagles held Anderson to 3-22 shooting in the third period.

The Lady Eagles continued to play high quality defense after halftime. It forced Anderson to start 3 of 12 from the field in the fourth and miss seven straight shots. C-N was able to go on a mini 6-0 run during that two-minute stretch to lead by four with 4:32 left. Carson-Newman began to create what looked to be some separation with two minutes to go after Alvey's second triple of the game made it a 6-point game. But AU would answer scoring back to back baskets to draw within two points with less than one minute to play. Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) made it a four-point game with a layup but AU responded seven seconds later with a three-pointer with 14 seconds left. The Trojans needed to foul, but had three fouls to give. C-N successfully got the basketball in bounds and burned 13 seconds while doing so. Eventually, Penland made two free throws to put C-N up by three with 1.1 seconds remaining. AU missed a game-tying three-pointer, and the Lady Eagles survived.

In the second half, Carson-Newman's defense limited Anderson to just 24 percent shooting and forced them to shoot just 37 percent from the field for the game. The Lady Eagles held the Trojans' top two scorers Diamond McDowell and Zamiya Passmore to a combined 10-27 shooting and 31 points.

"I think everyone in the league knows guarding one of them is hard, let alone both of them," Mincey said. "We've seen them a lot and it never gets easier. Sometimes we can take the credit for getting a stop and then other times it's a shot they missed that they are capable of making. We were able to take advantage of their cold-shooting in the second half."

The Lady Eagles shot 46 percent from the field and shot above 47 percent in three of the four quarters.

Carson-Newman assisted on 27 of its 33 made baskets. Tori Rutherford (Rutledge, Tenn.) led the team with eight assists and zero turnovers. Five other Lady Eagles had at least three assists.

Neither side led by more than seven and there were 14 ties and 11 lead changes, the most in any C-N game this season.

AU's Zaynah Preston paced four double-figure scorers with her career-high 17 points and career-high three triples.

The 78-75 final score is not a scorigami. This score has now happened four times in program history.

Carson-Newman gets the week off and returns to action next Saturday at Lenoir-Rhyne. Tipoff between the Lady Eagles and Bears is set 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.

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