Tusculum tussle on deck for Lady Eagles
January 5, 2016

Tusculum tussle on deck for Lady Eagles

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman makes the short trip to Greeneville to take on Tusculum Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in a South Atlantic Conference showdown between in-state rivals.

Carson-Newman Women's Basketball Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman makes the short trip to Greeneville to take on Tusculum Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in a South Atlantic Conference showdown between in-state rivals.

"It's always a rivalry game," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "They are going to want to beat us as bad as anybody and in turn we should want to beat them as bad as anybody. In terms of the standings, they are one game ahead of us. If we can go up there and beat them then we are tied in the conference with them."

Carson-Newman (9-3, 3-3 SAC) has won back-to-back contests in rather easy fashion since losing its leading scorer, senior Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.). The Lady Eagles have made at least seven shots from three-point territory in those two games heading into Wednesday night's tilt.

There is no opponent that Carson-Newman has more wins against all-time than Tusculum (6-3, 4-2 SAC) as the Lady Eagles lead the all-time series 51-16 and have won the last four games scoring at least 78 points in those contests.

Tusculum's last win the series came on Feb. 6, 2013 at Holt Fieldhouse as the Pioneers took a 77-68 decision. The score was tied at 40 after 20 minutes of action thank to a 12-0 Tusculum run at the beginning of the second half.

The last meeting, Jan. 21, 2015, at Holt Fieldhouse saw the Lady Eagles score 56 points in the second half and cruise to a 91-54 victory. Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) led the way with a career-high 24 points on 9 of 19 shooting. Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.) finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists while freshman forward Jecca Simerly (Talbott, Tenn.) had 11 points and six rebounds.

Tusculum's lone home loss this season in five tries came on Dec. 8 in a three-point loss to undefeated Anderson (S.C.), the top team in the SAC.

Offensively and defensively the Pioneers have been solid in field-goal percentage this season. Tusculum is yielding a 34.8 percent clip from the floor this season, 30th nationally, and is shooting 43.5 percent, 41st in the nation.

The Pioneers are the least proficient three-point shooting team in the nation this season having made a total of 27 triples.

Despite being a team that relies on scoring inside of the arc, Tusculum has attempted 129 free throws this season ranking 293rd out of 300 Division II teams in that category.

Senior guard Shynese Whitener is once again the leader for Tusculum. She ranks fourth in the nation with 3.56 steals per game and is No. 10 nationally averaging 21.2 points per night having eclipsed the 20-point mark six times this season.

"Nobody has really stopped her yet," Mincey said. "She's leading the conference in scoring. She is a good defender because of her length and their zone. Our kids have to be really careful with their passes on the perimeter. She just really turned it on this season. She is one of the best if not the best overall scorer in our conference."

Tusculum is 25th in the country in blocked shots per game averaging 4.6 per night this season, thanks in large part to Kristen McMillion who ranks 12th in the nation with 2.44 rejections per game.

The contest will be broadcast on Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM and on cneagles.com/live beginning at 5:45 p.m. with The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off on the Eagle Sports Network.

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