Carson-Newman Holds Off Lenoir-Rhyne In NCAA Women’s Basketball Southeast Region Tournament

GREENWOOD - No. 5 seed Carson-Newman stormed out to a 37-7 lead and survived a remarkable Lenoir-Rhyne rally, outlasting the fourth-seeded Bears 79-72 Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional, avenging two earlier defeats to their South Atlantic Conference rivals.

The Eagles improved to 24-6 on the season and will face top seed Lander in a Southeast Regional semifinal Saturday night at 7:30 at Horne Arena. Francis Marion and Tusculum will meet in the other semifinal at 5 p.m.

Lenoir-Rhyne had beaten Carson-Newman 78-67 and 85-76 during the South Atlantic Conference regular season. But despite a valiant rally cutting a 30-point deficit to four, the Bears couldn't complete the season sweep and finished 21-8.

Senior guard Ashley Kyle and junior guard Mandy Mendenhall led the Eagles with 16 points apiece, senior forward Shari Buford had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore forward Zoriah Williams added 14 points. Kyle had six assists and Mendenhall four steals. Junior guard Katlin Moore added nine rebounds while Williams had eight boards.

Senior guard Brittany Mitch scored a game-high 20 points in her college finale for Lenoir-Rhyne, freshman forward Precious Elkins scored 14 points, senior guard Amber Holt 13 points, and sophomore guard Cameron Sealey 12 points. Mitch added nine rebounds and five steals, and senior guard Jami Safrit led the Bears with five assists.

Buford got Carson-Newman off to a fast start with a three-point play to open the scoring. After Lenoir-Rhyne pulled within 5-4, the Eagles exploded on a 32-3 run including 21 unanswered points to take command of the game.

Mendenhall scored twice in the paint and Buford added two more baskets for an 11-4 lead. Williams scored inside, Courdne Miles hit two free throws, and Candis Clear made a lay-up to increase the lead to 17-4 with 13:25 left.

Carson-Newman continued to pour it on with Mendenhall making a 3-pointer and adding two free throws to make it 22-4 at the 12:19 mark. Williams made a tough shot inside and Mendenhall hit a jumper to complete the 21-point run, increasing the lead to 26-4 with 10:34 to go.

Jacquelyn Kremer ended Lenoir-Rhyne's seven-plus minute scoring drought with a free throw. But things didn't get any better for the Bears. Kyle scored a basket and hit two free throws on consecutive possessions for a 30-5 lead, and after Lenoir-Rhyne's Holt hit two free throws, the Eagles scored seven more unanswered points on inside baskets by Buford and Miles, and Moore's 3-pointer to make it 37-7 with 7:50 to go.

Mitch's lay-up with 6:52 left was Lenoir-Rhyne first points from the field in almost 11 minutes, and Mitch's two free throws one minute later gave the Bears consecutive scores for the first time in the game, pulling them within 37-11 at the six-minute mark.

Tasha Phillips hit two free throws to put the Eagles back up by 30, 41-11, with 5:40 remaining. But Lenoir-Rhyne was showing signs of life, scoring eight unanswered points including Holt's three-point play and Mitch's 3-pointer to close within 41-19 with 3:43 to go.

Carson-Newman answered with six straight points to lead by 28, 47-19, on a Williams basket at the two-minute mark. After the Bears countered with five unanswered points to narrow the gap again, Mendenhall swished a 3-pointer to make it 52-27 with 30 seconds left. The Eagles led 52-28 at the intermission behind Mendenhall's 16 points.

Lenoir-Rhyne established early in the second half that they were still in the game. Sealey and Holt hit 3-pointers to get the Bears off to a quick start and Sealey's basket in the paint cut their deficit to 19 points, 58-39, at the 16-minute mark.

Mitch's 3-pointer from the left corner pulled Lenoir-Rhyne within 58-42 with 14:28 remaining. After a series of turnovers and missed shots, Mitch hit another 3 and the Bears remarkably had cut their deficit to 13, 58-45, with 12:47 to go.

Kyle scored two much-needed baskets on consecutive possessions to give Carson-Newman a 62-45 lead at the 12-minute mark. But the Bears kept coming back as Elkins hit two free throws, Safrit converted a three-point play, and Sealey drove in for a lay-up to pull them within 62-52 at the 9:38 mark.

Lenoir-Rhyne pulled within single digits for the first time when Mitch hit a trey from the left corner to make it 62-55 with 8:40 to go, completing a 10-0 run. After Phillips hit a jumper for the Eagles, Sealey got a back-court steal, made a lay-up, was fouled, and converted the three-point play to cut it to six, 64-58, with 7:10 left.

Safrit's free throw closed the gap to five and Mitch's blocked shot gave the Bears a chance to make it a one-possession game. But Lenoir-Rhyne turned the ball over and Moore hit an open 3-pointer to push the lead back to 67-59.

The Bears had another chance to rally, getting back within six, 67-61, when Elkins scored on a put-back. But a missed free throw, an errant 3-point attempt, and a missed shot inside on consecutive possessions slowed the comeback. Buford grabbed the defensive rebound on the last miss, was fouled, and hit both free throws to give Carson-Newman a 70-61 lead at the three-minute mark.

Mitch's two free throws pulled Lenoir-Rhyne within 70-63 with 2:55 left. After Williams made two free throws for the Eagles, Elkins scored in the paint to pull Lenoir-Rhyne within 72-65 at the 2:25 mark.

Carson-Newman hit one free throw, but Holt's steal and layup pulled the Bears back within six and teammate Elkins hit one of two free throws to make it 73-68 with 1:23 to go.

The Eagles' Moore hit one of two free throws, but Safrit's put-back pulled L-R within four, 74-70, with one minute to go. Safrit stole the in-bounds pass, but the Bears couldn't convert a shot, Moore grabbed the defensive rebound, and Mendenhall passed to Williams for a basket to make it 76-70 with 43 seconds left.

The Bears again cut it to four, 76-72, when Elkins scored inside and was fouled with 35 seconds left. But she missed the free throw, failing to convert the three-point play.

Phillips hit one free throw for a 77-72 lead, and L-R missed a 3-pointer on the other end. Kyle got the rebound, was fouled and hit one free throw for a six-point lead. She missed the second, but teammate Phillips grabbed the rebound. Kyle hit one of two free throws, making it 79-72 with 10 seconds left for the game's final point.

Lenoir-Rhyne almost completed the comeback by out-scoring the Eagles 44-27 in the second half. Down 41-11, the Bears used a 53-18 run to get the game down to two possessions with still over six minutes left.

For the game, Carson-Newman made 25 of 56 shots from the floor (45 percent), 25 of 33 free throws (76 percent), and four of 13 from behind the 3-point line (31 percent).

Lenoir-Rhyne made 22 of 58 shots (38 percent), 21 of 29 free throws (72 percent), and seven of 28 from behind the arc (25 percent).

The Eagles had a 46-31 edge on the boards.

Tusculum 69, Clayton State 63

GREENWOOD, S.C. -- Southeast Region Player of the Year Jasmine Gunn poured in 21 points and Kendal Baxter knocked down four 3-pointers to lead the Tusculum College women's basketball team to a 69-63 come-from-behind win over 19th-ranked Clayton State University in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Friday afternoon. The eight-team regional is being held at Finis Horne Arena on the campus of Lander University.

With the upset win over the second-seeded Lakers (24-7), the Pioneers (21-9, No. 7 seed in regional) advance to Saturday's semifinal and will face No. 20 Francis Marion University at 5 p.m. The third-seeded Patriots eliminated No. 6 seed Newberry College, 103-96 in Friday's opening contest.

Gunn, a 4-11 junior guard from Nashville, Tenn., led all scorers with 21 points, shooting 6-of-11 of from the floor, while Baxter (Sevierville, Tenn.) recorded 14 points on the afternoon. Jasmine Parker and Catherine Hintz joined Gunn and Baxter in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively, as Parker and Kat Spears (Memphis, Tenn.) each pulled down a game-high eight rebounds in the victory.

CSU's Tanisha Woodward poured in 15 points, including 13 in the opening half. Breanna Fort recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Lesheria Stevens added 10 markers as the season ends for the defending Southeast Regional Champions.

Clayton State led the entire opening half and would take its largest lead of the game at 33-20 at the 4:13 mark, thanks to an 11-4 run. Tusculum would answer with a 10-6 spurt to cut the lead to 39-30 heading into the locker room. Brittni Oliver (Kokomo, Ind.) posted four markers and six assists, while Baxter canned a trey during the run.

Jasmine Gunn scored 21 points to lead Tusculum over Clayton State. (Photo by Mike Slade)

The Lakers, who entered the game second in the nation in steals per game, forced Tusculum into 14 turnovers in the opening period, converting those miscues into 10 points.

Clayton State would move its lead back out to double digits at 43-32 with 18:05 left in the game. The Pioneers responded with a seven straight points by Gunn as the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year led TC to within four (43-39) with 16:12 remaining.

The Lakers answered with an 11-3 spurt to lead by 10 again (52-42) with 11 minutes remaining following a jumper by Genesis Kelly.

The Pioneers launched a furious 13-2 run over the next five minutes to take their first lead of the game at 55-54 with 6:03 left on the clock.

CSU would score back-to-back buckets by Woodward and Fort as the Lakers led 59-58 with 4:10 to go. Tusculum made its biggest push of the afternoon as Gunn accounted for five points in a 7-0 TC run, including a steal and a three-point play as Tusculum charged out to a 65-59 lead with 1:52 left.

The Lakers cut the TC lead to four after a pair of Fort free throws with 52 seconds remaining, but the Pioneers limited CSU to only one made field goal in the final four minutes of the game to record its first ever win over Clayton State and avenge a regional semifinal loss to the Lakers in last year's NCAA Tournament.

Tusculum finished the game shooting 52.3 percent from the floor, including 13-of-24 in the second half (54.2%). The Lakers missed their nine of its last 10 shots to shoot 37.5 percent from the floor on the afternoon.

With her 21-point effort, Gunn passes former All-SAC standout Ashli Oliver for fifth place on the program's all-time scoring list (1,527). Baxter's four treys moved her into a tie with Nikki Van Dine for third on the program's single-season triples list with her 97th three-point field goal of the campaign.

Tusculum, who is making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, will be playing in the Southeast Regional semifinal for a second straight season.

Saturday's contest with Francis Marion will be the second time the Pioneers and Patriots have met on the hardwood this season. FMU defeated Tusculum 83-71 on Dec. 17 in the OrthoCarolina Classic in Wingate, N.C. The all-time series between two teams is tied at 1-1.

Francis Marion 103, Newberry 96

GREENWOOD, S.C. -- The Newberry College women's basketball team matched its season-high point total but could not erase a 24-point halftime deficit in the first round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Friday afternoon at Horne Arena. The scarlet and gray mounted a momentous comeback but ultimately fell, 103-96, to the third-seeded Francis Marion Patriots.

Francis Marion improved to 27-4 on the season and will meet Tusculum on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Region semifinals at Horne Arena.

Newberry ended its season at 21-9.

Newberry quickly cut a 28-point deficit down to seven, using a 27-6 run early in the second half to turn a rout into a thriller. Newberry got as close as five in the final minute. After scoring just 33 points in the first half and being out-rebounded 30-15, Newberry scored 66 points in the second half while out-rebounding the Patriots 30-14.

Senior guard Eboni Fields led Francis Marion with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, senior forward Nicole Mealing added 20 points, and junior guard Shannon Singleton-Bates scored 17 points.

Junior guard Robin Colbert had 13 points, seven assists, and three steals, including a big steal in the final seconds, for Francis Marion. Senior guard Shana Franks added 11 points, giving the Patriots five double-figure scorers. Junior center Danelle Downs led Francis Marion with nine rebounds.

Senior forward Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio), junior guard Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.), junior forward LeeAnn Watson (Stone Mountain, Ga.), freshman guard Amy Browne (Maroochydore, Australia) and junior guard Jessica Bearzatto (Melbourne, Australia) scored 94 of Newberry's 96 points.

Bulcher had a double-double with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor and 14 rebounds in her final college game. McKinney scored 21 points, Watson added 19 points including 9-of-9 free throws, Brown scored 18 points, and Bearzatto added 12 points and eight assists.

Already with a dominating 57-33 halftime lead, Fields and Singleton-Bates each scored in the opening minute of the second half to give the Patriots their biggest lead of the game at 28, 61-33, and the rout was seemingly on.

But Newberry responded with its biggest run of the afternoon, outscoring Francs Marion 10-2 with Bulcher scoring inside three times, cutting the deficit to 63-43. That would be just the beginning of the 27-6 run that eventually cut Newberry's deficit from 28 to seven.

Fields hit a 3-pointer to give the Patriots a 66-43 lead. But Newberry kept the rally going, scoring nine unanswered points to close within 66-52 at the 13:18 mark when Bearzatto drove the length of the court for a lay-up. At that point, Newberry had out-scored Francis Marion 19-2.

After the Patriots hit one free throw, Newberry's Watson, Bulcher and Browne hit two free throws apiece to cut the gap to single digits, 67-58, for the first time since early in the game. Watson's put-back pulled Newberry within seven points, 67-60, with 11:36 to go to complete the 27-6 run. But it would be a close game the rest of the way.

Francis Marion finally responded with Mealing and Fields scoring during a 5-0 run for a 72-60 lead. But McKinney hit a basket and 3-pointer to pull Newberry back within seven, 72-65, at the 10-minute mark.

The teams began trading baskets over the next several minutes as the Patriots came back to life. Francis Marion twice built its lead back to 12, with Colbert's lay-up at the seven-minute mark making it 85-73. But Newberry got back within single digits again, with Bulcher's basket pulling her team within 85-77 with 6:21 to go.

Mealing's long 3-pointer just inside the five-minute mark gave Francis Marion a 90-79 lead, and Downs made a key offensive rebound that led to another Mealing basket for a 92-81 advantage under the four-minute mark. But Newberry wouldn't go away, closing within nine on another Bulcher basket inside.

Fields hit a contested 3-pointer for a 97-84 lead with 2:43 to go and the game was seemingly in hand. But Newberry scored six unanswered points, pulling within 97-90 with 1:10 left when Browne made two free throws.

The Patriots needed some big plays in the final minute to finally secure the win. The first came when they ran the shot clock down, with Mealing hitting a jumper from the left side to make it 99-90 with 47 seconds left. But Browne scored immediately on the other end and after a Francis Marion free throw, Bearzatto drove in for a short jumper to pull Newberry within six points, 100-94, with 31 seconds to go.

The Patriots immediately turned the ball over underneath their own basket, but Colbert stole the ball back just a few seconds later, was fouled, and hit a free throw for a 101-94 lead with 23 seconds left. Bearzatto's put-back closed Newberry within five, 101-96, with 14 seconds to go. But Franks clinched the victory with a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left.

Francis Marion got off to a fast start after Newberry's Watson scored on a lay-up in the opening seconds. The Patriots scored the game's next 10 points for a 10-2 lead, with two baskets set up by Franks' steals. Her steal and fast-break lay-up gave Francis Marion a 6-2 lead and teammate Courtney Mealing scored off another of her steals to make it 10-2 at the 16-minute mark.

Newberry ended its scoring drought when Watson hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 10-4. But Colbert scored inside, and then got a steal and assisted a Fields basket to give the Patriots their first double-digit lead at 14-4.

Browne's 3-pointer pulled Newberry within 16-9 at the 14-minute mark. But Francis Marion began to pull away again, using a 13-2 run to build a 29-11 advantage including two 3-pointers by Fields and one by Singleton-Bates.

Fields' third 3-pointer of the half gave the Patriots their largest lead of the game at 19 points, 32-13, just inside the 10-minute mark.

Watson's three-point play pulled Newberry within 14 points, 36-22, with 7:52 to go. But Singleton-Bates made a fast-break bucket and Precious Tucker scored inside to push Francis Marion's lead to 40-22.

Newberry twice pulled within 15 on Browne's 3-pointer and McKinney's fast-break basket, making it 42-27. But the Patriots responded again, scoring the game's next five points to stretch their lead to 20 for the first time at 47-27 when Mealing hit a 3-pointer at the three-minute mark.

Mealing hit another trey, the team's sixth of the half, to build the lead to 23 points, 52-29, with 1:49 left. Monica Mann's fast-break basket gave Francis Marion a 57-33 halftime lead.

For the game, Francis Marion made 37 of 74 shots from the floor (50 percent), 20 of 28 free throws (71 percent), and nine of 20 from 3-point range (45 percent).

Newberry hit 35 of 75 shots from the floor (47 percent), 23 of 33 free throws (70 percent), and three of 10 from behind the arc (30 percent). And after getting dominated on the boards in the first half, Newberry finished the game with an overall 45-44 edge on the boards.

Newberry vs. Francis Marion - Quotes

Francis Marion Head Coach Heather Macy
"I'm very pleased with our team's response once Newberry went on that big run. We showed great resolve, hit some huge shots and we are very pleased to be playing another

"Newberry is a very good basketball team. We knew that they were going to make a run. They made a couple of big shots and we allowed our misses to get us down, and we didn't buckle down defensively like we needed to do."

"I just cannot say enough about the resolve of this group and the way they keep coming. At this stage, everyone has good basketball teams and you have to play a complete 40 minutes."

Francis Marion's Nicole Mealing
"We played as well as possible in the first half - very pleased at that. We just cannot come out in the second half strong and then just lay off. We have to play like sharks."

Newberry Head Coach Sean Page
"Obviously disappointed we didn't win the game. They physically stuck it too us early and man-handled us. We knew that was going to happen. To our credit, we played a real good second half, but it's hard when you get yourself down by 24 points at halftime."

"We really challenged them at halftime. Sometimes you need to challenge their heart and character to see how they would respond. You cannot knock the effort and the heart, the character and the resiliency of these kids."

Newberry's Anita Bulcher
"I'm disappointed that we lost, but I can be proud of myself and my team for coming back and fighting hard. At least to go out knowing that we worked hard makes it better. We did not have to hang our heads when we walked off the court."