Ninth-ranked Lady Eagles pop 2022-23 cork in Palmetto State
AIKEN, S.C. – With two contests on the docket to open the season, ninth-ranked Carson-Newman faces off against 10th-ranked Lander to begin the year on Saturday at 3 p.m. wrapping up the weekend with USC Aiken on Sunday at 3 p.m. from the Convocation Center in the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Crossover.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
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23 | 15 | 24 | 17 | 79 |
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9 | 19 | 22 | 20 | 70 |
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15 | 17 | 27 | 16 | 75 |
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25 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 57 |
AIKEN, S.C. – With two contests on the docket to open the season, ninth-ranked Carson-Newman faces off against 10th-ranked Lander to begin the year on Saturday at 3 p.m. wrapping up the weekend with USC Aiken on Sunday at 3 p.m. from the Convocation Center in the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Crossover.
Carson-Newman is 32-12 all-time in season openers but had a nine-game winning streak snapped last season falling to Lander 84-72 in the opener. Since this event has been taking place in 2014-15, the Lady Eagles are 12-2 against the two units with both losses coming to the Bearcats, in 2016 and last season.
Coach Mike Mincey is 16-13 against nationally-ranked teams in his first 11 seasons but the club has dropped three straight since beating 21st-ranked Catawba on Jan. 12, an 83-78 overtime victory on the road. With a 2-4 record against the top 10, C-N is only 1-5 in neutral matchups with nationally-ranked foes with the lone win coming at Aiken against No. 15 Lander on Nov. 11, 2017, a 90-87 win.
Over the last decade, the Orange and Blue have played seven matchups where both teams were ranked in the top 25 with C-N winning four of the seven but the unit dropped both such affairs a year ago.
Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Carson-Newman is 61-18 in road and neutral contests after the club was 43-45 in Mincey's first six seasons on the bench. Overall the team is 118-29 in that stretch for a winning percentage of .803.
Saturday's meeting with Lander is the 18th time the teams have met on the hardwood with the Lady Eagles holding a 9-8 edge. C-N has lost four of the five 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 sixth time in Mincey's tenure that the Bearcats enter as a top 25 teams with the Lady Eagles winning three of the first five but fell 84-72 in last year's opener at Lenoir-Rhyne. Lander shot 51 percent from the field and saw each starter score double figures.
For the first time since 2004-05 Kevin Pederson is not on the Lander bench after taking the Coastal Carolina opening. He won 69 percent of his games with the Bearcats and went to 13 NCAA Tournaments in his final 15 years after winning five games in his first campaign.
Stephanie Gehlhausen is the 11th coach in school history after serving Ashland's Associate Head Coach since 2018 helping led the team to a 105-15 record over that period.
While the team needs to replace four of the top five scorers from last year, the Bearcats have All-American Zamiya Passmore back in the fold after scoring 22 points per game a year ago making 49 percent of her shot attempts.
Concluding the weekend, Carson-Newman clashes with USC Aiken for the 14th time holding a commanding 10-3 lead behind a seven-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, 14 and 43 in the last four. The Pacers last win came on Nov. 13, 2010, a 62-36 throttling.
Last year, the Lady Eagles racked up six scoring runs of at least 9-0 shooting 54 percent from the field and limiting the Pacers to single digits in each of the second through fourth quarters as five Lady Eagles finished in double figures.
The Pacers finished last season 8-18 losing 10 of the final 11 games of the year after mid-January with the lone win coming at home against Flagler, an 85-50 decision in mid-February. Six of the 10 came by double figures.
Coach Mark Miller returns three of the team's top four scorers including leading scorer Jentri Worley. The guard scored 15 against C-N a year ago finishing with 14 double-digit scoring games out of the 18 she played.
Both affairs will air on cneagles.com/live starting 15 minutes before tip starting with Saturday afternoon's matchup with 10th-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
RV/#10 Lander
| Game Statistics | #9/RV Carson-Newman | RV/#10 Lander |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (33-60) | (24-58) |
| Field Goal % | 55.0% | 41.4% |
| Rebounds | 33 | 32 |
| Assists | 18 | 8 |
| Turnovers | 21 | 22 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 29 | 19 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 6 | 8 |
| Pts in the Paint | 54 | 30 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 24 | 17 |
| Bench Pts | 20 | 17 |
USC Aiken
| Game Statistics | #9/RV Carson-Newman | USC Aiken |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (28-67) | (18-55) |
| Field Goal % | 41.8% | 32.7% |
| Rebounds | 44 | 35 |
| Assists | 13 | 11 |
| Turnovers | 10 | 15 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 17 | 8 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 17 | 3 |
| Pts in the Paint | 40 | 14 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 14 | 10 |
| Bench Pts | 3 | 17 |
