JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - - No. 2 seed Carson-Newman used a 24-point opening quarter to take command early of Wednesday's South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinal game with UVA Wise as the Lady Eagles claimed an 86-69 victory at Holt Field House. With the win, Carson-Newman advances to Saturday's semifinal where they will face No. 3 seed Catawba at Furman University.

HOW IT STARTED

Carson-Newman made 9-of-17 first quarter field goal attempts while forcing six UVA Wise turnovers to jump out to a 24-13 advantage. The fast start by the Lady Eagles carried over to the second quarter where Mike Mincey's team forced five more Cavalier turnovers to take a 42-26 lead to intermission.

CAVALIER OFFENSE COMES TO LIFE

Jamie Cluesman's crew put up 24 points in the third quarter behind an 8-for-14 shooting effort.  UVA Wise would get the lead to 17 when Nia Vanzant scored off a Peyton Sams assist late in the period. Despite the strong offensive effort, the Cavs still struggled to stop the Lady Eagles who tallied 27 points in the quarter as part of a 10-of-23 shooting performance.

CLOSING IT OUT

In the final quarter, UVA Wise would get as close as 17 points on four separate occasions but could not get any closer as Carson-Newman closed out their third win of the season over the Cavs.

BOX SCORE NUGGETS

The Lady Eagles enjoyed a 47-to-36 rebounding advantage and scored 44 points in the paint. Carson-Newman's Addison Byrd led all players with 24 points while Lindsay Taylor added 20 points, each woman grabbed nine rebounds.

UVA Wise was paced by Katlin Burger who scored 21 points and grabbed eight boards on 9-of-12 shooting while Vanzant (13), Caitlyn Ross (11) and Kalee Johnson (11) also finished in double figure scoring.

The game was the last for Cavalier seniors Mackenzie King, Meg Crawford and Johnson. Johnson finished her career with 1,388 points finishing 10th in program history in scoring. UVA Wise finished the season 12-15 after starting the year 3-11.