JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – When No. 12
Carson-Newman takes the court tomorrow night, the Lady Eagles will
have to contend with something they haven’t experienced so
far this season, a loss. If history repeats itself, the 16-1 (6-1
SAC) team will be itching to go on another streak and demonstrate
what it’s capable of.
C-N drops four spots after Saturday’s 78-67 loss to
Lenoir-Rhyne after spending the last two weeks in the top 10 in
NCAA Division II. Carson-Newman was one of the final six schools in
Division II to be undefeated; four teams remain perfect on the
year.
The Lady Eagles will face the Lady Indians of Catawba (12-6, 5-2
SAC) in South Atlantic Conference action Wednesday at 6:00 p.m., at
Holt Fieldhouse, for their first back-to-back home stretch since
Nov. 20-21. The contest will be broadcast on AM 1300 WMTN out of
Morristown and can be streamed on the web by visiting
cneagles.com.
“We haven’t gotten too high on any of the wins and
we’re not going to downplay our loss,” said
Carson-Newman head coach Dean Walsh.
“L-R exposed some things that we’re going to work
on this week and hopefully we bounce back. The only thing we have
to see is, ‘how’s our character?’ Based on
yesterday’s practice, we have that edge to us that we have
something to prove.”
Despite going 1-1 last week, the Lady Eagles are ranked in the top
50 nationally in eight statistical categories as a team. C-N is
fourth in blocks (5.7 bpg), seventh in turnover margin (+7.71),
ninth in steals (14.4 spg) and 10th in scoring offense (80.3 ppg).
The Lady Eagles are also 21st in three-point field goal defense
(26.8%), 22nd in scoring margin (+15.9 ppg), 23rd in field goal
percentage (44.8%) and 44th in assists (16.0 apg). The team leads
the SAC in each of these categories as well.
Seniors Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) and
Ashley Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) are both
listed in the top 25 in the country statistically. Buford is
seventh in blocks (2.9 bpg) and 13th in rebounding (10.7 rpg) while
Kyle is 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.24) and 23rd in assists
(5.1 apg).
Carson-Newman has four players averaging in double figures in
scoring. Junior Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston
Springs, Tenn.) leads the team at 15.9 points per game while Kyle
(13.9), Buford (12.6) and sophomore Zoriah
Williams (Calera, Ala.) (10.2) round out the top scorers.
Williams has posted two straight double-doubles as well for the
Lady Eagles.
“We got some things cleaned up Monday and hopefully that
continues today so we can be ready for a very good, very athletic
Catawba team,” said Walsh. “Everybody knows
Dana Hicks is good, but you also have to contend with the Long
sisters (Kisha and Nisha). They have a transfer from Serbia (Milica
Ivanovic) that is a shooter and has the ability to score. They come
off the bench with good shooters and are aggressive and attack hard
and we have to contain and take care of.”
Hicks is averaging 14.8 points and 10.4 rebounds to lead the Lady
Indians in both categories and is averaging 17.3 points and 13.0
rebounds in SAC play. Nisha Long and Ivanovic are each scoring in
double figures at 13.9 and 13.4 points per contest, respectively,
while Long is pulling in four assists and two steals per game as
well.
Catawba leads the all-time series with Carson-Newman, 29-19, and
have won five of the last seven contests between the two schools.
Click here
for this week's WBCA USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25
Coaches' Poll.
-Joe Matthews, C-N Sports Information
