November 4, 2020

Lady Eagles slotted as preseason SAC favorites

ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the second time in three years, Carson-Newman was named the preseason favorite in the South Atlantic Conference voted on by the coaches and announced by the league on Wednesday.

ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the second time in three years, Carson-Newman was named the preseason favorite in the South Atlantic Conference voted on by the coaches and announced by the league on Wednesday.

The Lady Eagles were pinned at No. 1 prior to the 2018-19 season. Prior to that season the program had never been the preseason favorite since voting in the polls began in 2006-07 having been tabbed second on four occasions.

"It's cliché to say but it doesn't mean a whole lot," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "It is kind of nice that your peers have put you up there as one of the teams that is good enough roster wise to compete for our league title assuming we have one. It's obviously been a challenging year. It's been a challenging preseason for anyone and everybody. We are included in that.

"We did lose Tori [Griffin], Kelci [Marosites], Chanler [Geer] and Kayla [Marosites] and Kayla was an All-American last year. Those are going to be huge shoes to fill but I do think that we have a nice returning core. I like our squad. I know we are one of the better teams. I don't know if we are No. 1 but I know we are certainly up there with the best."

Two teams have tussled for the top spot since the start of the 2017-18 season. C-N earned seven first-place votes this season besting Anderson's four for the top spot. Over the last three years, the Lady Eagles are the only team to finish first or second each season. Mincey's club and the Trojans hold an identical 76-19 overall record with C-N posting a 50-12 mark in league action and Anderson going 52-10.

The Orange and Blue have been to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments for the for time in program history making three straight postseasons for the first time since a string of five from 1989-93.

For the first time since a seven-year stretching from 1983-90, the unit has won at least 20 games in four campaigns in a row. During that time, the school has produced a 96-29 overall record and a 66-18 mark against the league.

Carson-Newman has led the South Atlantic Conference in scoring in each of the last five seasons ranking sixth, third, seventh and sixth nationally in scoring over the past four campaigns. The program is
averaging 84.8 points per game during that span posting an average of at least 80 in each of the last four 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. Baylor is the lone two Division I schools to be among the nation's top seven in scoring offenses over the last four campaigns.

Ranking second in the country, the Lady Eagles finished one three-pointer shy of a SAC record for makes in a season posting 323 to reset the program record set three years ago. With 18 games of at least 10, The Lady Eagles posted a school-record five straight games with at least 10 making 67 shooting 42 percent from Jan. 18 to Feb. 1.

For the third straight season, Carson-Newman tallied 11 wins in true road affairs going 33-8 in that stretch after posting a 38-39 mark in the first six years of Mincey's tenure. Over the last three seasons no team in the conference has been better travelling in SAC affairs. Carson-Newman is 25-6 since the start of 2017-18 in league road games. Anderson is 22-8 during that stretch thanks to an undefeated effort in 2018-19.

"Over time we have gotten bigger from the guard position," Mincey said. "We are more traditional now. We used to be one of the smaller teams in the league but I think now we are going to be one of the bigger teams with the ability to put size on the floor that we can actually guard on the block on the defensive end. This year I hope to be able to get the ball down low and get some inside position and get easy one-footers and play inside-out."

C-N returns four of its five starters but will need to replace consensus All-American Kayla Marosites who started all 95 games over three years at Mossy Creek. She finished second in SAC history in career rebounding average at 11.3 posting 58 career double-doubles.

After an elite freshman season, Braelyn Wykle returns to lead the unit after being named the SAC's Freshman of the Year, first-team All-SAC and first-team all-region. The Greeneville, Tenn. native led the league in field-goal percentage and three-point percentage drilling 76, a top 50 mark in the country.

Two-time All-SAC pick Addison Byrd returns for her senior year earning preseason All-SAC laurels for the second straight season. Posting 11 points per game over the last two years, she is the second-leading returning scorer.

The seasons is slated to start on Nov. 21 at Coker for a 2 p.m. tip-off. All of the games this season can heard on the Eagle Sports Network with video coverage available for home games.

Rank	School (First-Place Votes)	Points
1	Carson-Newman (7)	149
2	Anderson (4)	141
3	Catawba (2)	134
4	Wingate	116
5	Newberry	100
6	Lincoln Memorial	94
7	Tusculum	93
8	Limestone	87
9	UVA Wise	77
10	Lenoir-Rhyne	67
11	Coker	45
12	Queens	41
13	Mars Hill	26