DETROIT – Despite starting the game with a six-point lead, No. 17 Carson-Newman allowed a 23-0 scoring run in the first half and never recovered falling to Wayne State in the first-ever meeting with the Warriors 81-61 Tuesday at Wayne State Fieldhouse.
"There's a brand of basketball that is played up here in the Midwest," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "I think this team plays in the toughest region in the country and that's why we are up here. We scheduled these tough games because we want to put ourselves in a situation. I didn't come up here to get beat but it's what happened. It's a physical basketball game. A lot of teams don't hedge ball screens at our place but up here they do. We didn't even have a chance to practice. As the game went on I thought we navigated it a little bit better."
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) saw a stat-sheet stuffing effort overshadowed as the sophomore recorded 15 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals for her second double-double in the last three games.
The Lady Eagles posted 31 percent shooting from the floor going 5-for-25 from long range in the game with Skylar Boshears (Lafollette, Tenn.) scoring 12 and Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) finishing with 11.
Carson-Newman (3-2) had won 11 straight regular-season games following a loss dropping back-to-back affairs for the first time since November and December 2019. The 20-point margin snaps a streak of 212 straight games without a loss by that tally dating back 2,824 days when the unit dropped a 79-52, 27-point, decision at Catawba in the South Atlantic Conference Quarterfinals on March 4, 2015.
The Lady Eagles got off to a great start scoring eight of the first 10 points of the game but nine first-quarter giveaways prevented the team from getting shot attempts. C-N failed to score in the final 5:22 of the opening frame allowing the Warriors to score the final 20.
After a Sophia Karasinski trifecta to start the second, the run stretched to 23 unanswered. It was the third straight game the team had allowed at least a 14-0 scoring surge after not allowing one such run in the last five years. The margin swelled to a 24-point different at 42-18 but the Orange and Blue scored the final seven points of the half to trim the margin to 42-25.
Tuesday was the largest halftime deficit the team has faced since being behind by 24, 48-24, at Catawba on Dec. 16, 2015, also the last time the team trailed by 20-plus points at any point in a regular-season (Carson-Newman has trailed by 21 twice in the NCAA Tournament).
Each team went 9-for-18 in the third period by the Warriors outscored the Lady Eagles by five in the frame courtesy of five three-pointers. C-N went 5-for-20 from the floor in the fourth frame once again allowing Wayne State to shoot 50 percent over the final 10 minutes.
Carson-Newman turned the ball over 20 times in the game but saw Wayne State drill 11 three-pointers and finish 31-for-62 from the field and lead by as many as 27 in the game.
Nine different Warriors scored in the matchup with four finishing in double figures led by 14 apiece from Kate McArthur and Rebecca Fugate with each making five of nine. McArthur added five boards, five assists and four steals and Fugate grabbed nine caroms.
Taylor Thompson fired in 13 points in 14 minutes making five of her six shot attempts. Maxine Moore registered 10 points going 5-for-7 shooting.
The Lady Eagles get a quick turnaround on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against Saginaw Valley State. Broadcast coverage airs on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and cneagles.com/live starting at 2:45 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.
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