JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A second quarter run by ninth-ranked Carson-Newman proved to be the difference as the LMU women's basketball team saw their five game winning streak snapped in a 105-90 loss at C-N Wednesday evening.
LMU falls to 10-6 overall and 6-4 in SAC play with the loss. C-N improves to 17-1 and 9-1 in the SAC.
The loss spoils what was one of the better shooting nights of the season for LMU, who shot a season-high 51.6 percent from the field, a season high 14 three-pointers and a season-high 53.8% from behind the arc. One key stat is 22 LMU turnovers to C-N's 16. The Lady Eagles also out-rebounded LMU 34-29.
Shea Coker led the way for the Blue and Gray with 23 points, while
Ross Mathis came close to a new career high in scoring with 21 points, including seven three-pointers, which tied her old record and is the second-best in a game in program history.
Rachel Griffith had a career-high 17 points and
Jordan Brightwell chipped in 12 points.
Emily Griffith tied her career high for rebounds with seven to lead LMU. Mathis did set a new career record in assists with eight.
For the game, C-N shot 53.7 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from behind the arc. Lady Eagle junior Haris price led the way for C-N with a career-high 38 points, including an 11-12 performance at the free throw line. Mika Wester added in 25 points, Katie Stubblefield has 12 and Briana Smith and Kayla Marosites had 11 points apiece.
It was a back-and-forth affair early on before LMU went on a 5-0 run to take the 17-12 lead. A Lady Eagle basket and a free throw cut the lead to three before both teams went ice cold from the field for the next three minutes. C-N tied it up at 17-17 with 36 seconds left but Brightwell hit a jumper in the paint to give LMU the 19-17 lead at the end of the quarter.
LMU extended the lead to six with 7:05 left in the second quarter before going cold again from the field. C-N took advantage of the cold shooting and several Lady Railsplitter turnovers to go 23-6 down the stretch and take the 46-34 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Lady Railsplitters and C-N then went toe-to-toe in the third quarter, with both teams scoring 28 in the frame. Both teams shot over 60 percent from the field for the quarter, with LMU holding a slight 62.5 percent to 61.1 percent advantage. They were unable to make any ground, however, and trailed 74-62 heading into the fourth quarter.
C-N extended the lead to 17 early in the fourth quarter only to see LMU make a run to cut it to eight following an
Emily Griffith lay-up and free throw with 5:28 remaining. C-N then was able to extend the lead back to 15 points, 95-80, with 2:32 remaining. Baskets by
Cameryn DuBose and Coker and a pair of free throws from
Qua Hines cut the lead back to 95-86 with 1:48 remaining, but with LMU forced to foul the Lady Eagles went 8-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the win.
Quick Hits
- LMU falls to 5-3 against Carson-Newman in the
Krystal Evans era. All three C-N wins have been in Jefferson City.
- The 51.6 percent shooting from the field is a season high and the highest percentage in a game since they hit 50.0 percent against Mars Hill back on Dec. 11.
- The 38 points by C-N's Haris Price are the third-most given up by LMU in the NCAA era and are the most since West Alabama's Brittany Weathers scored 36 against LMU on Nov. 24, 2012.
Up Next
The Lady Railsplitters will travel to Catawba to open up the second half of SAC play on Saturday at 2 p.m. Catawba is currently 9-7 overall but tied for second in the SAC (with Wingate) with a 7-2 record in conference play. Because of the snowy weather, their game with Newberry was moved to tomorrow evening.
