October 30, 2019

Mincey's squad selected second in preseason SAC poll

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Coming off of a second-straight NCAA Tournament trip, Carson-Newman was picked to finish second in the preseason South Atlantic Conference coaches’ poll announced Wednesday by the league.

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Coming off of a second-straight NCAA Tournament trip, Carson-Newman was picked to finish second in the preseason South Atlantic Conference coaches' poll announced Wednesday by the league.

"Some of the stuff we are getting in terms of preseason is name recognition," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "It's a good thing but we have lost some quality players but we have a lot of firepower coming back. Like you saw last night, we had a freshman point guard that was our leading scorer at Tennessee and it shows that we have good play there. [Sydney] Pearce came in and played great at that five slot.

"We have lost some good players. If you aren't trying to rebuild, you are trying to reload. I feel like we have reloaded and I hope the rankings hold true being second in our conference. That's why you play the games. It's a preseason ranking. All that is going to do is put a target on your back."

The Lady Eagles are looking to qualify for the national tournament for a third straight season, a mark that has not occurred in 27 years when C-N went to five NAIA Playoffs from 1988-89-1992-93.

In a conference that saw the key departures of eight of the top 10 leading scorers, Mincey's team returns second- and sixth-leading scorers in the league in Kayla Marosites (Elizabethton, Tenn.) and Addison Byrd (Nashville, Tenn.), a pair of preseason first-team All-SAC picks.

"You don't want to ever come back where you don't have any of your scoring back," Mincey said. "We do have what I feel like in Kayla, that if we have a good year and she has a good year can battle [Anderson's and reigning SAC Player of the Year] Alexy Mollenhauer for those honors this year. Byrd is a dynamic scorer. She can score in a lot of ways and she can score inside and out. We feel very fortunate two of the top players in the league on our squad."

Over the last three seasons, Carson-Newman is 74-21 overall and 49-13 in league play. It has been a three-team race among SAC schools in that span with Wingate leading the pack with 75-21 and 50-12 marks in that span. Anderson is 71-21 and 51-11 over that same stretch.

Scoring has been a key part of the formula for the Orange and Blue ranking in the top seven of the country in scoring average over the past three years. C-N is one of three teams in Division II to be in the top seven in that stretch. Ashland and Glenville State have been first and second in some order over that period. UConn and Baylor are the lone two Division I schools to be among the nation's top seven in scoring offense over the last three campaigns.

The Lady Eagles have posted back-to-back top-two finishes for the third time in program history. C-N was either first or second in each of the first four years of the league and most recently ended the year second in two-straight campaigns in 2004-05 and 2005-06.

The Orange and Blue have won at least 20 games in each of the last three seasons. It is a feat that the program had not accomplished since a string of seven in-a-row from 1983-84 through 1989-90, a sequence of 29 years.

Atop of the table is the reigning league regular-season and tournament champion Anderson. The Trojans did not lose a SAC game last season but lost to Lander 64-61 on their home floor in the Southeast Region semifinals. While the reigning SAC Player of the Year, Alexy Mollenhauer, is back in the fold, coach Jonathon Barbaree has to replace the conference's third-leading scorer, Ace Easter.

Wingate has finished no worse than second in the league standings over each of the last six years but is picked to finish third in 2019-20. Coach Ann Hancock loses four starters from last year but returns an elite shot blocker and preseason second-team All-SAC pick Teliyah Jeter.

Tusculum finds itself picked fourth, comfortably above fifth-place Lenoir-Rhyne thanks to the return of reigning SAC Defensive Player of the Year, Mia Long. The senior led Division II in steals per game with 3.96 while scoring in double figures 20 times.

The Bears will enter the season looking to find a replacement for one of the most efficient scorers from a year ago in Madi Suddreth. Preseason second-team pick Madeline Hardy posted 11 points per game in SAC outings and over 13 points in her final 11 games of the year.

Catawba has two players picked on preseason All-SAC squads but is tabbed for a sixth-place finish. Talia Barnes and Taisha Deshazo are the second-highest scoring duo returning combining for 25 points per night.

Lincoln Memorial hits the hardwood under the guidance of first-year mentor Eric Brewton Jr. who is without the services of the departed Griffith twins. The sisters combined for over 30 points per night with Emily finishing fourth in scoring.

Newberry loses the conference's fifth- and sixth-leading scorers in Meg Essex and Shelby Britten to graduation as the duo combined for 32 of the team's 69 points per game last year.

Closing out the bottom four of the SAC are Queens, Coker, first-year member UVa-Wise and Mars Hill, a set of clubs that combined to go 9-51 against league foes in 2018-19.

The Lady Eagles hit the floor for the first time Friday, Nov. 8, in Greenwood, S.C. against USC Aiken at 7:30 p.m. in the first of two in the SAC/Peach Belt Challenge. Pregame coverage starts at 7:15 p.m. on cneagles.com/live and 106.3 (WPFT-FM).

Rank	School (First-Place Votes)	Points
1	Anderson (11)	121
2	Carson-Newman (1)	101
3	Wingate	100
4	Tusculum	93
5	Lenoir-Rhyne	75
6	Catawba	72
7	Lincoln Memorial	66
8	Newberry	55
9	Queens	43
10	Coker	30
11	UVa-Wise	26
12	Mars Hill	11