DAHLONEGA – The No. 18 University of North Georgia (UNG) women's basketball team took down No. 10 Carson-Newman (C-N) 72-59 in a marquee regional win at Lynn Cottrell Arena at the UNG Convocation Center Saturday afternoon.

The Nighthawks improve to 10-0 after snagging their second win against a top 25 team this season. UNG is now 6-3 in the last six seasons against top 25 teams. With the win Saturday, the Nighthawks have now won four of the last five contests against the Eagles. All four of those wins came against a nationally ranked C-N team. 

UNG took down the Eagles behind a trio of double-digit scorers in graduate forward Emily Trushel, sophomore forward Kendall Emener and senior guard Ansley Hall.

Trushel led the way for UNG with a game-high 16 points. She contributed five rebounds and added five assists with a pair of blocks and one steal on defense. The sharpshooter went 4-for-6 from downtown, recording a season-high four made three pointers.

Emener had one of her most efficient performances of the season, posting her 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the floor.

Hall went 5-for-9 from the floor to total 14 points in the win. The reigning Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week added two assists and two blocks defensively. 

UNG's leading scorer, graduate guard Caroline Martin, was limited to eight points against the Eagles Saturday but made major contributions in other facets of the Nighthawks' 10th win of the season. Martin snared six boards to lead her team in the category. On defense she was a menace all game, swatting two shots while collecting a career-high five steals. 

As a team, UNG's hounding defense was a key factor in the victory. The Nighthawks blocked a season-high six shots while also grabbing 10 steals, the second most in any game this season. Those numbers helped force 21 Eagles turnovers which led to 15 points on the other end for UNG. 

It was a major scoring run in the first and second quarters that propelled the Nighthawks to an early lead Saturday. 

In a close contest in the first quarter, UNG led 12-11 after a layup from C-N's Makayla Alvey. Trushel quickly answered on the other end with her first three-pointer of the game. 

After Alvey's layup with 3:07 left in the first quarter, the Eagles would not score again until the 6:19 mark of the second quarter. During the six-minute 48-second scoring drought for the Eagles, the Nighthawks rumbled on a 13-0 run to lead by 14 points. 

UNG continued to roll in the second quarter, out-scoring C-N 23-8 in the frame. The Nighthawks went 9-for-15 (60 percent) from the floor and 4-of-9 (44.4 percent) from deep range in the frame. By halftime, UNG led 38-19 over the 10th ranked team in the nation. 

The Eagles steadied things in the third quarter and slowly crawled back into the game. C-N out-scored UNG 22-10 in the third, cutting the deficit to as few as six points. The Nighthawks took a 48-41 lead into the fourth quarter.

Three-point shooting proved pivotal in the final quarter as UNG again drilled four triples, eventually pulling away for the 13-point victory. As a team, the Nighthawks combined to go 11-for-25 (44 percent) from downtown in the victory. It's their highest three-point percentage performance this season in any game with more than eight made triples. 

The win marks UNG's seventh double-digit victory of the season. The Nighthawks have not won a game by less than eight points this season and currently hold an average margin of victory of 13.6 points. UNG is not just undefeated through 10 games, it is dominating the opposition day in and day out.  

Now the Nighthawks will rest before the holidays with a 10-day break before their next game. UNG will look to ring in the new year on a high note as it's slated to take on Reinhardt on New Year's Eve. Tip off on Tuesday, Dec. 31 from Lynn Cottrell Arena is set for 1:30 p.m.