Staff report

SALISBURY — Carson-Newman guards Campbell Penland and Braelyn Wykle  lit up Goodman Arena on Saturday afternoon for 12 3-pointers and 53 points, while four Catawba starters were combining for a measly 14.

So Catawba lost by 30, right?

Well, no. Actually Catawba won.

Two reasons. Catawba’s women’s basketball team doesn’t lose at home — the streak is at 29 in a row — and Catawba has Lyrik Thorne, the leading scorer in school history (1,973 points) and arguably the best player in school history.

Thorne scored 38 points, got some help from a deep bench and carried the Indians to a 76-74 South Atlantic Conference victory. Catawba (15-3, 10-2) stayed in first place. Lenoir-Rhyne and surging Anderson have lost three each. Wingate and Carson-Newman (15-6) have four SAC losses.

Wykle has games like this frequently — this was her 65th game with 20 or more points  for Carson-Newman — but the Indians survived a career day by Penland (32 points) and also withstood a season-high 15 3-pointers by the Eagles.

Catawba shot 48 percent, the best anyone has shot against Carson-Newman all season. Eleven of those field goals were 3-pointers, including five by Thorne.

Carson–Newman had leads early, but Catawba appeared to have control of the game after a wicked, 32-point second quarter that provided a 50-38 halftime lead. Brooklin Ingram banked in a 3-pointer to send the Indians to the locker room with momentum.

The Eagles rallied in the third. They made it a two-point game at 51-49, but Thorne made a 3-pointer to bump the lead back to five with six minutes left.

When Carson-Newman got back within two again a minute later, Thorne answered with another long one. Basically, she wasn’t going to let the 14th-ranked Indians lose.

Catawba’s last points of the day came on two free throws by Thorne with 1:44 remaining that provided a 76-72 lead.

That was a long time to hang on, but McIntosh got some key rebounds.

Catawba’s lead was 76-74 when Penland missed a shot with 17 seconds left, but Wykle grabbed the offensive rebound, and the Eagles got another chance.

Carson-Newman got another shot in the final seconds but missed on a jumper that would have forced overtime. Catawba did a good job to make someone other than Penland or Wykle beat them.

Catawba’s next three games are on the road. They won’t have that enormous home-court advantage, but they will have Thorne.

Carson-Newman 18   20   21   15  — 74

Catawba                18  32    14   12    — 76

CATAWBA — Thorne 38, Wilson 7, Porter 6, Dixon-Booker 6, Downs 5, Gueterman 5, Baker 3, Ingram 3, Spry 3.