Greenwood, S.C. ? The Carson-Newman Women?s Basketball Team (24-6) held off a furious rally in defeating Lenoir-Rhyne (21-8), 79-72, Friday night in the Quarterfinal Round of the 2010 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament at Horne Arena.
Carson-Newman, the fifth seed in the tournament, will face the top seed and host school, Lander University (26-3), Saturday night in the regional semifinals at 7:30 p.m.
The Eagles, leading 5-4 just two minutes into the game, scored 21 consecutive points over the next seven minutes to take a 26-4 lead capped off by a jump shot by Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.).
Carson-Newman, ranked No. 23 in NCAA Division II, pushed its lead to as many as 30 points on two occasions (37-7 and 41-11) with under eight minutes?left?until intermission?before L-R began its comeback.
The Bears, the fourth seed and ranked 24th in the nation, cut the margin to 24 points (52-28) at the break?before turning it on in the second half.
Lenoir-Rhyne hit five three-pointers in the second half and eventually cut the lead to 74-70 on a field goal by senior guard Jami Safrit (Hickory, N.C.) with just over a minute left and had possession of the ball but couldn?t get any closer.
Carson-Newman recovered with a field goal by Zoriah Williams (Calera, Ala.) to push the lead back to six (76-70) with 43 seconds remaining and the Lady Eagles hit three free throws in the final 33 seconds to seal the win.
Carson-Newman was led by Mendenhall and Ashley Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) with 16 points each while Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) added a double-double (15 points and 10 rebounds) as the Lady Eagles avenged two regular season losses to the Bears.
Lenoir-Rhyne senior guard Brittany Mitch (McLean, Va.) led all scorers with 20 points to go along with nine rebounds and four three-pointers while freshman guard Precious Elkins (Conyers, Ga.) came off the bench to score 14 points despite the setback.
Senior guard Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) added 13 points for the Bears, who shot just 38 percent (22-of-58) from the field and never held the lead in the contest.
