Thorne’s career night edges #14 Women’s Basketball over Carson-Newman

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 14th-ranked Catawba College women's basketball team utilized a career-high 38 points from grad student guard Lyrik Thorne to survive 76-74 against Carson-Newman in a battle for first place in the South Atlantic Conference. With the win, the Catawba Indians extend their nation-leading home winning streak to 29 games.

TEAM STATS
- Catawba shot 29-for-61 (48 percent); Carson-Newman was 26-of-65 (40 percent) from the field

- The Catawba Indians were 11-for-24 (46 percent) from three-point range, while the Eagles shot 15-of-33 (46 percent) from deep

- The teams struggled from the free throw line, both shooting 7-for-15 (47 percent)

- Catawba out-rebounded CN 41-38, but the Eagles had a 16-15 edge in second-chance points

- Carson-Newman recorded 17 assists to 12 turnovers, while the Catawba Indians had 13 assists to 14 turnovers, but it was Catawba that held a significant 16-5 advantage in points off turnovers

- Catawba dominated in points in the paint (32-14), fastbreak points (12-0) and bench points (24-4)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Thorne exploded for a career-high 38 points on 14-of-26 shooting from the field and 5-for-10 from three-point range to go along with seven rebounds and six assists

- The performance is the fifth-highest scoring game in program history, and the most since Taisha DeShazo's program-record 42-point game in 2019

- Thorne extends her program-record career scoring mark to 1,973 points, just 27 shy of 2,000

- Saniya Wilson added seven points, five rebounds and three assists in 16 minutes off the bench

- Kairah Dixon Booker tied a team-high with seven boards along with six points

- Jada Porter knocked down both of her attempts from long range for six points

- Janiya Downs and Sydney Gueterman scored five points apiece on a combined 4-for-5 shooting; Downs hauled in six rebounds

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER

- Back-to-back Porter and Thorne three-pointers flipped a Catawba deficit into a 13-8 lead at the midway point of the quarter

- Three Braelyn Wykle three-pointers in a two-minute span helped give the Eagles an 18-14 advantage just three minutes later

- Gueterman's three in the closing seconds of the first quarter tied the game at 18 after the opening 10 minutes

SECOND QUARTER

- Three-pointers from Wilson and Thorne capped an 11-0 Catawba Indian run spanning from the first quarter to take a 26-18 lead

- Catawba led by as much as 14 points after Nala Baker canned a triple at the 2:52 mark

- A quick four unanswered points from Campbell Penland cut the CN deficit to 10

- The Eagles cut it to as little as seven points with under a minute left, but a Wilson layup and Brooklin Ingram's three-pointer at the halftime buzzer returned Catawba's advantage to 50-38 heading into the locker room

THIRD QUARTER

- Carson-Newman opened the second half on an 11-1 run, led by eight points from Penland alone to trim their deficit all the way to two points after the first three and a half minutes

- Thorne responded with five unanswered points of her own to return the cushion to 56-49 for the Catawba Indians

- CN scored five straight to return within a single possession at the midway point of the quarter

- Thorne's free throw gave Catawba a 62-56 advantage with under two minutes in the frame

- Spry's jumper in the final seconds made it a 64-59 Catawba Indian lead after three quarters

FOURTH QUARTER

- Catawba led by nine after another Thorne jumper at the 7:42 mark

- The Eagles whittled their deficit down to 70-66 on Wykle's three-pointer at the 5-minute mark

- Makayla Alvey buried a three as CN got within two points again with three minutes to go

- That would be the final field goal of the game as teams traded free throws from there; Skylar Boshears got off a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer, but the ball wedged between the backboard and the rim, as Catawba held on for the win, staying atop the SAC standings

UP NEXT

- The Catawba Indians return to the road on Wednesday, their first of a three-game roadtrip, facing Newberry at 5:30 p.m.