Carson-Newman Women’s Basketball Blows By King, 82-49, Saturday Evening At Home

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman College Women’s Basketball Team (4-0) got a combined 42 points from senior forward Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) and junior guard Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) as it defeated King College (2-2) by an 82-49 score Saturday evening in the Lady Eagle Shootout. C-N tied school records for turnovers forced (44) and steals (23) on the night as well.

“This was possibly the best defensive game we’ve had so far in this young season,” said Head Coach Dean Walsh after the contest. “We got 50 points off the turnovers we forced, but I still want to see the number of turnovers we commit to go down.”

The Lady Eagles took advantage of a 17-0 run during a 6:32 scoring drought by the Tornado in the first half and added a 10-0 run later in the period. Carson-Newman went into the break with a 37-15 lead, recording 21 of their first-half points off of King miscues.

C-N kept the hammer down in the second half outscoring King 28-5 from the 16:47 mark to until the media timeout at 9:52 to take its largest lead of the game at 39 points. After a short scoring spurt by the Tornado, the Lady Eagles pushed the lead back to 39 with 2:45 left before King scored the final six points of the contest.

Carson-Newman got 29 more points off of turnovers in the second half, shooting 56.3 percent (18-for-32) from the floor after halftime.

“Our goal tonight was to keep them out of their offense, and I think we did a pretty good job of that,” commented Walsh. “Coach (Michelle) Williams does a good job of keeping them disciplined on offense and we were successful in disrupting them tonight.”

Buford and Mendenhall led all scorers with 21 points each as Buford completed the double-double with 10 rebounds including seven on the offensive glass and added six steals and five blocks. Mendenhall had five steals as well for the Lady Eagles.

Freshman forward Courdne Miles (Burlington, N.C.) also chipped in 11 points and had four blocks of her own and freshman guard Tasha Phillips (Clarkrange, Tenn.) recorded five points, six rebounds and four blocks as well.

“I was very proud of our production from the post tonight, but Mandy had a great game as well,” continued Walsh. “We have played the past two games without players that are key to our game plan and we have learned that we have the depth to still be competitive and that will be good for us down the stretch this season.”

King was led by Jessica Tharpe (Sevierville, Tenn.) with 11 points, six rebounds, five steals and four assists. Ashley Deans (Greeneville, Tenn.) also had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Tornado.

Carson-Newman will begin a seven-game road trip that will cover five weeks on Friday, Nov. 27 when the Lady Eagles face off against the Bobcats of Georgia College & State in the Jack Hughston Classic at Columbus State. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.