LADY EAGLES RALLY PAST KING 78-75

Tatum Burstrom’s 3-Pointer with 22 seconds left the difference

The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (2-1) women’s basketball team rallied from a 75-71 deficit with 49 seconds left to play only to see the Lady Eagles score the last seven points of the game with a come-from-behind 78-75 victory over the King Tornado (1-1) at the Student Center Complex on Saturday night.

With 22 seconds left in the game, sophomore Jai Jai McLaughlin (Knoxville, Tenn.) assisted sophomore Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.), who knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner to give Carson-Newman a 76-75 lead that the Lady Eagles would not relinquish.

“I think it says a lot about our basketball team about how we were able to come up here and beat a quality basketball team,” said Carson-Newman head coach and King alumnus Mike Mincey. “Late in the game we took a couple of big charges, and then credit goes to Jai Jai. She got that last offensive rebound and a kick-out to Tatum. Tatum is our best 3-point shooter and I wouldn’t have anyone else shooting it.”

“It took a lot of fight in us, we stayed together, everyone on the bench was involved, and we pulled out a victory on the road,” said Burstrom. “It’s what we needed.”

Carson-Newman was led in scoring by senior Chante’ Markus (Hummelstown, Pa.), who scored 13 points (seven in the second half), and she also tied for the team lead in rebounds with eight, which was also her career-high for rebounds in a game.

The first 10 minutes of first half was largely back-and-forth, before King pulled ahead 39-27 with just over four minutes left in the half. The Lady Eagles closed the first half strong with an 8-0 run to only trail 39-35 at the half.

The Lady Eagles quickly tied the game in the second half, yet King led for most of the first ten minutes of the final period. King’s largest lead in the second half was seven, as the Tornado led 53-46 with 12:55 to play.

After King led 55-51, the Lady Eagles tied the game at 55 with a made jumper by McLaughlin with 10:43 to go. The contest was back-and-forth for the rest of the game, yet Carson-Newman would go on a 13-5 run led by baskets from freshman Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.) that gave the Lady Eagles a 68-63 lead with 5:45 to play.

King bounced back and with 3:21 to play a 3-pointer by Sydney Harris gave the Tornado a 70-68 lead. King then grew the lead to 75-71 with 49 seconds to play. Carson-Newman jumped back in the contest with a pair of made free throws by McLaughlin to cut the lead to 75-73 before a King turnover in the backcourt gave the basketball right back to Carson-Newman with 38 seconds remaining.

After Burstrom missed a jumper, McLaughlin grabbed the rebound and after an extra pass McLaughlin found Burstrom who made the 3-pointer that gave the Lady Eagles the lead for good with 22 seconds to play. Carson-Newman saw Bonnie Durrett miss a jumper with six seconds left, with Markus grabbing the rebound before she was fouled. Markus made both of her free throws to deliver the game to Carson-Newman, 78-75.

Cupples joined Markus in double-figures with her 11 points, and the freshman has now scored in double-figures in her first three games at the collegiate level. Junior Whitney Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) nearly had a double-double with her nine point and eight rebound effort, and junior Lashawnda Peacher (Springfield, Tenn.) led the Lady Eagles with four assists.

King saw four players score in double-figures, led by the 16 points of Harris who also connected on a trio of 3-pointers. Durrett collected a double-double with 15 points and 18 rebounds.

Carson-Newman will next play on Wednesday Nov. 20 in their South Atlantic Conference opener, hosting Tusculum at Holt Fieldhouse at 6 p.m. Wednesday’s game will be carried on the Eagle Sports Network’s flagship station WPFT-FM 106.3 FM, with coverage beginning at 5:45 p.m. with “The Countdown to Tipoff,” and live video streaming is also available on www.cneagles.com.