GREENVILLE, S.C.– No. 4 Anderson University women's basketball team fell to the No. 2 seed Carson-Newman Eagles, 83-58, on Sunday afternoon at the SAC Women's Basketball Championship at Timmons Arena. With the win, the Eagles improve to 26-5 on the year, while Anderson falls to 21-10 overall.
The Trojans battled head-to-head with the Eagles during the first quarter of action before Carson-Newman started pulling away during the second period of play. The Eagles led by 16 at the half, eventually winning by 25 points, 83-58.
Graduate Shameka McNeill scored a team-high 17 points with graduate Samantha Michel dropping in 10 points for the Trojans.
Leading the charge for the Eagles was redshirt sophomore Braelyn Wykle with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds, followed by junior Lindsey Taylor with 17 points and nine rebounds. A pair of Trojans netted double figures with Shameka McNeill and Samantha Michel pouring in 17 and 10 points respectively.
Carson-Newman's Taylor was named the championship's Most Valuable Player, with teammates Braelyn Wykle and Abby Wilson earning All-Tournament honors. McNeill and Michel also garnered All-Tournament accolades.
With the win, Carson-Newman earns the SAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Championship. The full bracket for the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball tournament will be released tonight (March 6) at 10 p.m. live on NCAA.com. Anderson will have to wait to see what its fate is tonight during the bracket reveal show.
All-Tournament Team
Wingate- Bryanna Troutman
Catawba- Janiya Downs
Anderson- Shameka McNeill
Anderson- Samantha Michel
Carson-Newman- Abby Wilson
Carson-Newman- Braelyn Wykle
Carson-Newman- Lindsey Taylor (MVP)
