Carson-Newman Advances To Food Lion SAC Tournament Final With 78-69 Victory Over Wingate

Hickory, N.C. - Carson-Newman's Shari Buford recorded a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds as the fourth-seeded Lady Eagles defeated number one seed Wingate 78-69 on Saturday afternoon in the semfinals of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the CVCC Arena. Carson-Newman now advances to the championship game on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m..

Carson-Newman (21-8) benefited from hot shooting from the three-point line in the first half, hitting six-of-11 from beyond the arc for 54 percent. The Lady Eagles broke a 10-10 tie in the first half when Stefanie Holbrook converted two free throws to make it a 12-10 game with 13:21 remaining in the first half. Carson-Newman moved out to their biggest lead of the first half when Ashley Kyle connected on a three-point shot at the 6:49 mark to give the Lady Eagles a 26-12 lead.

Wingate (23-6) would cut the Carson-Newman lead to three points at 29-26 on a jumper by Tanetra Barrett with 2:59 remaining. The Lady Eagles would extend their lead, however, to 42-31 when Holbrook hit another three-pointer with six seconds remaining before the halftime break.

Carson-Newman would get out to their biggest lead of the contest at 62-45 when Casha Foster converted a layup with 9:35 remaining. The Bulldogs would cut the lead to eight points at 69-61 at the 4:00 mark when Anna Atkinson connected on a three-point basket. However, Wingate could not get any closer as Carson-Newman went on to the nine-point victory.

Tasha LedBetter finished with 11 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Lady Eagles while Foster chipped in with 10 points and had a game-high seven assists.

Wingate was led in scoring by Barrett, who finished with 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Quotes:

Carson-Newman Head Coach Dean Walsh...

"We've been coming out strong the last four or five games. The problem has been maintaining the intensity. I guess we are starting to maintain it at the right time."

On the play of Shari Buford..

"She is not playing like a freshman. She played poorly against Wingate the last time and took that personally. She told me, "Coach, I'll never play that bad again".

Wingate Head Coach Johnny Jacumin...

"This building doesn't like us, and I don't like the building here either. We never play well here. The second half we attacked better. If we had played that way in the first half, it might have been a different ballgame. That three (Holbrook) right before halftime killed us. To me, that was the turning point in the ballgame."

On the season series against Carson-Newman...

"They beat us at home and we beat them at their place and they got the rubber match. I hope we get another shot at them in the regional tournament."

On the regional tournament next week...

"You will see a different ballclub when we play next Thursday.