Lady Eagles set to open SAC Tournament at Catawba
March 2, 2015

Lady Eagles set to open SAC Tournament at Catawba

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The fifth-seeded Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (18-9, 12-9 South Atlantic Conference) travel to fourth-seeded Catawba (17-10, 14-8 SAC) for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Goodman Gym Wednesday night for a quarterfinal game in the SAC Tournament.

Carson-Newman Women's Basketball Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The fifth-seeded Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (18-9, 12-9 South Atlantic Conference) travel to fourth-seeded Catawba (17-10, 14-8 SAC) for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Goodman Gym Wednesday night for a quarterfinal game in the SAC Tournament.

"They are very athletic and certainly a good basketball team," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "It's unfortunate that we have to travel in that first round game, but that's just how it played out in the second semester with our wins and losses."

The Lady Eagles have won three consecutive games, their longest winning streak in the 2015 calendar year. Carson-Newman is coming off of its third 30-point win of the year by blowing out the Newberry Wolves last Saturday 75-44. The 44 points allowed were the fewest points allowed by Mincey's group since Newberry mustered 39 in a 57-39 Carson-Newman win on January 12, 2013.

"I think we are playing pretty good basketball right now," Mincey said. You gotta have confidence that you can go on the road. Yes, it's a quarterfinal game in our tournament which could end our run in the SAC Tournament, but I think since we found out we were ranked in the region, I like how our kids have responded."

Carson-Newman and Catawba have met seven times in the SAC Tournament with the Lady Eagles holding a 4-3 edge that includes four straight wins against the Indians. Most recently, the two teams faced off at Holt Fieldhouse on March 5, 2014 in the quarterfinals. Carson-Newman, the No. 4 seed, won 82-68 on its home floor as Jai Jai McLaughlin (Knoxville, Tenn.) tallied her second triple-double of 2013-14 with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.

The Lady Eagles are 22-23 all-time in SAC play having won the 2005 championship. Along with the 2005 title, Carson-Newman has played in the final game in 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2007.

The fifth seed is 10-14 opening round games against the fourth seed since the tournament's inception in 1991. The last No. 5 seed to win a game in the tournament came in 2012 as Carson-Newman defeated No. 4 seed Lenoir-Rhyne 82-75 in overtime. Only one No. 5 seed has won the conference championship. Newberry defeated the fourth, first and third seeds en route to a 2006 title.

The Lady Eagles have won at least one game in the SAC Tournament on 16 occasions, out of 24 chances, including in nine of the last 10 years.

The two sides split the season series this year with each team winning on the road. Overall, Catawba leads the all-time series 36-25. In the last meeting, an 87-78 Catawba victory at Holt Fieldhouse on January 31, the Indians scored 60 points in the second half to overcome an 11-point halftime deficit.

Catawba shot 20 percent in the first half but upped the percentage to 51 percent and converted on 19 of 22 foul shots in the second half to defeat a Carson-Newman team that made 46 percent of its field goal attempts and 14 of 15 free throws in the final stanza.

Carson-Newman was led by 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks by sophomore forward Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.) and 12 points, a career-high six assists and four rebounds by junior guard Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.).

Jada Huntley and Chloe Bully each had 20 points in the game marking the first time since a December 3, 2013 meeting with Lee that a duo had 20 points in the same game against the Eagles.

A win on Wednesday night would mark the first 20-win season for Carson-Newman since the 2009-10 team went 24-7 en route to an NCAA Tournament, the program's last time in the big dance.

An audio stream of the game can be accessed by visiting cneagles.com/live beginning at 6:45 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on the Eagle Sports Network.

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