Dec. 6, 2008

Final Stats

 

JEFFERSON CITY, TENN. - Carson-Newman held off a second-half comeback attempt by visiting Lincoln Memorial Saturday night to record a 77-72 victory at Holt Fieldhouse.  The Lady Eagles improved to 7-0 overall on the year and gave head coach Dean Walsh his 250th career win. 

The game also marked the South Atlantic Conference opener for both schools.

"I guess I will take another ugly win," said Carson-Newman head coach Dean Walsh.  "We really need consistent shooting and lack of mental errors.  Living on the edge is not fun (but) we just keep working hard."

Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) recorded her third double-double of the season to lead the Lady Eagles (7-0, 1-0), in what was their lowest offensive output of 2008-09.  The junior forward finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Zoriah Williams (Calera, Ala.) and Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) added 13 and 11 points, respectively, for Carson-Newman.  The Lady Eagles made 28-of-65 shots and held a 41-30 rebounding advantage.  Each team committed 23 turnovers.

Lincoln Memorial (4-3, 0-1) had four players reach double figures, led by the 19-point effort of Dayshalee Salaman.  Megan Davis followed with 16 points, Whitney Vannoy with 14 and Stephanie Wagner with 11.  Cena Nasiloski came off the bench to record a team-high seven rebounds.

Andi Winney, a star forward for the Lady Railsplitters who led the SAC in scoring (17.0 ppg) coming into the game, was limited to two points.

"Shari and Zoria played really well," Walsh added.  "I was proud of how we defended (Lincoln Memorial's) best player."

Lincoln Memorial led as late as the 7:40 mark of the first half, but a 20-1 run by the Lady Eagles made it a 48-30 margin just over five minutes later.  Buford had seven points in the stretch, while Ashley Tipton (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Megan Hunter (Ashland City, Tenn.) each contributed key three-pointers.

Carson-Newman went on to lead 50-33 at intermission.

The Lady Railsplitters quickly cut into the deficit in the second half, opening with a 12-2 run to pull within 52-47.  Syshalee led the charge with a three-pointer and a score-and-one play.

A pair of lay-ups by Ashley Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) helped push the Carson-Newman advantage back to double digits at 61-51 at the halfway point of the period.

Lincoln Memorial got the margin back to six (63-57) on a Vannoy three with 8:58 left in the game, but that would be as close as the Lady Railsplitters would get until a pair of Dayshalee free throws cut it to 73-67 in the final minute.

Carson-Newman will return to action next weekend as it travels to Highland Heights, Kentucky to participate in the Travel America Classic.  The Lady Eagles will take on Edinboro at 5:30 p.m. Friday evening before squaring off against defending NCAA Division II national champion Northern Kentucky Saturday at 7:30 p.m.