No. 21 C-N lights 2021-22 lamp with No. 3 Lander and Aiken
HICKORY, N.C. – With two contests on the docket to open the season, 21st-ranked Carson-Newman faces off against third-ranked Lander to begin the year on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. wrapping up the weekend with USC Aiken on Sunday at 3 p.m. from Shuford Gym in the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Crossover.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
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31 | 19 | 16 | 18 | 84 |
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23 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 72 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
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27 | 18 | 25 | 29 | 99 |
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20 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 46 |
HICKORY, N.C. – With two contests on the docket to open the season, 21st-ranked Carson-Newman faces off against third-ranked Lander to begin the year on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. wrapping up the weekend with USC Aiken on Sunday at 3 p.m. from Shuford Gym in the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Crossover.
"We had three scrimmages so it's not like we haven't played against somebody," Carson-Newman coach Mincey said. "We have seen ourselves on film, corrected some things and worked on some things where our entire focus has been on these first two games of the year. Lander being game No. 1, we have put a lot of effort into trying to prepare for them because it is a very big challenge to try to prepare for them so I'm glad we have had time to do it."
Carson-Newman is 32-11 all-time in season openers having won nine straight since a setback to Coker on Nov. 9, 2012, 59-56, in Harrogate, Tenn. The team turned around and won each of the next contests. It was the third year in a row where the team started a year 0-1. Since this event has been taking place in 2014-15, the Lady Eagles are 11-1 against the two units winning six straight since a 68-53 loss to No. 21 Lander in Harrogate on Nov. 12, 2016.
Mincey will be facing off with a top 25 team for the 25th time in his tenure holding a 15-9 advantage but the team is 1-4 against ranked foes in neutral site affairs. Lander is the second top five that the club will face over the last 11 seasons losing 58-40 to fifth-ranked Columbus State to open the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
The only recorded win over a top five team in program history came on Jan. 17, 2009, 363 games and 4,685 days ago when the unit beat fifth-ranked Tusculum at Holt Fieldhouse 90-87. C-N has played the No. 1 team twice losing at Lipscomb 86-78 on Jan. 5, 1995 and at Northern Kentucky 67-51 on Dec. 13, 2008.
Over the last decade, the Orange and Blue have played five matchups where both teams were ranked in the top 25 with C-N winning four of the five, the lone loss coming in the Elite Eight to No. 14 Union 73-70. The duel with Lander is only the second time that the Lady Eagles were lower ranked with the unit winning at seventh-ranked Tusculum 69-66 in double overtime last year ranked No. 20.
Saturday's meeting with Lander is the 17th time the teams have met on the hardwood with the Lady Eagles holding a 9-7 edge. C-N has lost three of the four neutral site games with the lone exception coming at Aiken on Nov. 11, 2017, a 90-87 victory that sparked the team's Elite Eight season.
It is the fifth time in Mincey's tenure that the Bearcats enter as a top 25 teams with the Lady Eagles winning three of the first four including the last two since falling to No. 21 Lander in Harrogate 68-53. Every C-N win has been by single digits with the last five contests being decided by a total of 30 points.
A year ago, the Bearcats won the South Region with a Covid realignment in the spring earning the No. 2 national season for the Elite Eight beating Azuza Pacific by a dozen before falling to third-seeded Drury 74-65 in the Final Four but had a game-tying three-point attempt with 41 seconds to go before the Panthers went 6-for-6 at the charity stripe to ice the game.
Coach Kevin Pederson returns a pair of All-Americans in Zamiya Passmore and Makaila Cange. Passmore was the South Region's Most Outstanding Player scoring 20 points and dishing out six assists per contest. Cange led the Peach Belt with 16 double-doubles while scoring 67 percent from the field.
"They are experienced," Mincey said. "With their run last year, they know what it takes to win. They have good foot speed. They have the ability to get to the rim. They have an inside presence that can play inside-out. It's a big challenge for our basketball team to try to limit them in transition, don't put them at the free-throw line and keep them off of the glass."
Lander was second in the Peach Belt in scoring with 74 points per game but won contests by an average of 17 points per game. Most of the damage was done inside with the team making five three-pointers and only 26 percent from deep, both ranking 11th in the conference.
Concluding the weekend, Carson-Newman clashes with USC Aiken for the 13th time holding a commanding 9-3 edge behind a six-game winning streak. After the first three of the string was decided by a total of 11 points, the Lady Eagles have won by 36, 26 and 14 in the last three. The Pacers last win came on Nov. 13, 2010, a 62-36 throttling.
Due to Covid, the Pacers were limited to seven games a year ago going 2-5 having not played since Feb. 10 when they dropped a 71-61 contest to second-ranked Lander in an outing in which they led 53-51 going into the fourth frame.
Coach Mark Miller returns each of the team's top five scorers led by Delaney Trushel. The Brentwood, Tenn. native dropped in a dozen points per game, the only player in double figures, with four double-digit scoring night paced by a 24-point outburst against Clayton State on Jan. 16.
In the small sample size, the Pacers were solid defensively blocking over six shots per game posting five or more in six of the seven affairs. Five teams shot 36 percent or worse from the floor as teams shot a combined 38 percent from the field on the year, the fourth-best margin in the league.
Both affairs will air on cneagles.com/live starting 15 minutes before tip starting with Saturday evening's matchup with third-ranked Lander that will air locally on 106.3 WPFT-FM beginning with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off".
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Team Stats
#3 Lander
| Game Statistics | #3 Lander | #21 Carson-Newman |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (28-55) | (28-69) |
| Field Goal % | 50.9% | 40.6% |
| Rebounds | 45 | 29 |
| Assists | 14 | 18 |
| Turnovers | 18 | 13 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 16 | 17 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 21 | 17 |
| Pts in the Paint | 32 | 24 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 4 | 4 |
| Bench Pts | 9 | 33 |
USC Aiken
| Game Statistics | #21 Carson-Newman | USC Aiken |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (39-72) | (17-56) |
| Field Goal % | 54.2% | 30.4% |
| Rebounds | 48 | 26 |
| Assists | 20 | 10 |
| Turnovers | 10 | 20 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 36 | 7 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 18 | 7 |
| Pts in the Paint | 46 | 16 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 7 | 0 |
| Bench Pts | 41 | 9 |
