By Bill Kiser
bkiser@salisburypost.com
OLIN ó Just when Carson head coach Brooke Misenheimer thinks her team is taking a few steps forward, the Cougars do something to push their progress back.
That was the case Friday night, as Carson gave North Iredell all it could handle for about nine minutes before falling apart in a 55-23 North Piedmont Conference loss.
Emory Haynes scored a game-high 17 points, Taylor Cook added 14 and Brianna Johnson 12 for the Raiders (7-11, 4-10), who led by 17 points at the half.
Breckin Settlemyer scored seven points to lead Carson (2-17, 1-13), which remains mired at the bottom of the NPC standings.
“You don’t want to talk to me right now, because I’m not real happy with the way we played,” Misenheimer said after the game.
She had reason to be upset, especially after the Cougars trailed by just three points at the end of the first quarter, and had cut North’s lead to 12-11 on Marissa Sellers’ jumper with 7:11 left in the second quarter.
But the Raiders, aided by a tough fullcourt press, closed out the period with 16 unanswered points to take a 28-11 halftime lead. They had pushed their lead to 35-11 with less than four minutes left in the third period before Carson hit another field goal.
“We were in the ballgame, but everything unraveled after that,” Misenheimer said of the second quarter. “We turned the ball over and we gave them open shots. It was really a poor effort on our part. It was a matter of wanting to get open, and wanting to get the ball and take care of it.”
By the end of the game, the Cougars had shot just 20 percent from the field (10-for- 50) and turned it over 26 times.
And while Carson forced the Raiders into committing 21 turnovers, the difference was more than the Cougars could overcome.
“We gave everybody a chance, but nobody seemed to be able to pick us up,” Misenheimer said. “It’s hard to dig yourself out when you’re down that far.”
The Cougars actually made a small run early in the fourth quarter, pulling within 39-19 on a Settlemyer layup and Megan Meismer’s short jumper with 5:55 remaining. But Haynes put in six unanswered points ó a short jumper, followed by back-to-back fast break layups ó over a 50-second span to kick off a 16-4 run to close the period.carson (23) óSettlemyer 7, Sellers 4, K. Livengood 4, M. Livengood 4, Heggins 2, Meismer 2, Ciscel, Brown, Khan, Marshall, Monroe.
north iredell (55) ó Haynes 17, Cook 14, Johnson 12, Harkey 6, Singetery 4, Shelton 2. Carson 9 2 4 8 ó 23
N. Iredell 12 16 11 16 ó 55