Third-Seeded Lady Eagles To Take On #2 Newberry On Saturday In SAC Tournament Semifinals
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After punching its ticket to the semifinals of the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament Wednesday night with a 70-66 win over Wingate, the third-seeded Lady Eagles are set to face a Newberry team that defeated Lincoln Memorial 78-56 yesterday in the league quarterfinals.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After punching
its ticket to the semifinals of the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic
Conference Tournament Wednesday night with a 70-66 win over
Wingate, the third-seeded Lady Eagles are set to face a Newberry
team that defeated Lincoln Memorial 78-56 yesterday in the league
quarterfinals.
Carson-Newman (23-5) and Newberry (20-7) will meet one another in
the nightcap of Semifinal Saturday at 8:00 p.m., at the Catawba
Valley Community College Arena in Hickory, N.C.
“We’ve had two great games in the regular
season,” said Head Coach Dean Walsh.
“Round three is going to be a war. We play two
contrasting styles. It’s not going to be a blowout, but
something’s going to give.”
The two teams split their regular season matchups, with
Carson-Newman winning on Jan. 2, 86-73, while the scarlet and gray
came away with the victory on Feb. 1, 67-64.
“They have a tremendous inside game and a good solid
perimeter that shoots the ball well,” added Walsh.
“They want to slow the pace, they don’t turn it
over and they are one of the best rebounding teams in the
nation.
“The converse of that is that we want to run, we’re
not as physical, we have the depth advantage and we can be a good
rebounding team when we want to be. We’re one of the top
turnover margin teams in the country.”
In the first game, Carson-Newman placed five players in double
figures including senior forward Shari Buford
(Hampton, Ga.) with 15 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.
Senior guard Ashley Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.)
had 12 points, seven assists and three steals as the Lady Eagles
outshot Newberry 48 percent to 38 percent from the floor.
Helen McKinney (Owensboro, Ky.) paced the scarlet and gray with a
career-high 32 points while LeAnne Watson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) had
a double-double with 19 points and 12 boards.
In the second matchup, both Watson (20 points, 12 rebounds) and
Anita Bulcher (Russia, Ohio) (15 points, 10 rebounds) had
double-doubles as Newberry outrebounded C-N, 40-35, including 15-8
on the offensive glass, and forcing the Lady Eagles into 23
turnovers.
Junior guard Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs,
Tenn.) had 15 points, hitting on 3-of-4 from behind the arc, while
Buford chipped in 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“We had a five-point lead at their place and kinda
relaxed during the second half and they took it to us,”
continued Walsh. “We can’t let that happen; we have
to play our style and pace.”
The game has implications for the NCAA Division II Southeast
Region tournament as well. Carson-Newman currently sits fourth in
the rankings while Newberry is eighth.
“They’re in the conference semifinals for a
reason; they’re ranked in the region for a reason; they won
12 conference games this year for a reason,” added
Walsh. "They are a very good team and are very well coached.
It’s going to be one heck of a ballgame.”
The other semifinal will feature top-seeded and defending
tournament champion Lenoir-Rhyne (21-6) against #4 Tusculum (18-9).
The two teams split their regular season meetings, but L-R holds
the advantage with three victories in the last four contests
between the two schools.
“It makes for a great Semifinal Saturday,”
added Walsh. “Tusculum is playing extremely well and
Newberry has been super hot. I don’t know that us and L-R are
at the top of our games right now and we’re going to have to
be to win Saturday.”
-Joe Matthews, C-N Sports Information
