Carson-Newman Game Notes - Catawba Home

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (5-2, 3-0 South Atlantic Conference) women's basketball team will return to conference action by facing the Catawba Lady Indians (4-2, 3-0 South Atlantic Conference) in a showdown of the league's top teams at Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Both Carson-Newman and Catawba sport 3-0 marks in conference play to lead the SAC, leaving the winner of Saturday's matchup alone atop the division standings.

"Somebody is going to walk out of here with a loss and somebody is going to walk out of here with sole possession of first place," said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey. "So there's a lot to play for, it's a home game, and if you expect to do anything in the conference or have a chance to win the conference, you can't give up these kind of home games to a conference opponent."

The Lady Eagles are coming off of an 82-66 loss to Lee, a team that was an NAIA finalist a season ago. Despite trailing 47-30 at halftime, the Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Flames 36-35 in the second half.

Carson-Newman was led in scoring by senior Chante' Markus (Hummelstown, Pa.) as she tied a career-high by scoring 15 points, 12 of which came in the second half. She also hit four 3-pointers in the game, and another player who made four treys was freshman Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) with her 14 points as she joined Markus in double-figures and also tied a career high for points in the game.

Despite only scoring four points against Lee, the Lady Eagles continue to be led in scoring by sophomore Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) who is averaging 10.9 points per game, and she is joined in double-figures by Markus, who now averages 10.4 points per contest.

Catawba, coached by Angie Morton, is 4-2 to begin the season and like Carson-Newman has started conference play 3-0. The Lady Indians have notched impressive road victories in SAC play at Wingate on Nov. 20 (85-81), and in their last conference game on Nov. 26, a 62-50 win at Newberry, the team picked to win the SAC in the preseason coaches poll.

Catawba was picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll, and preseason All-SAC first team selection Chole Bully leads the Lady Indians by averaging 16.8 points per game, fourth best in the SAC with that mark.

Carson-Newman holds a 33-22 lead in the series against Catawba in a total of 54 meetings. The teams have gone 3-3 over the past six meetings. C-N split the season series with Catawba last year, losing 66-58 at Holt Fieldhouse on Jan. 26, 2013 before a 60-59 win at Catawba on Feb. 27, 2013.

Saturday's game will be carried on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station WPFT-FM 106.3 FM, with coverage beginning at 1:45 p.m. with "The Countdown to Tipoff," and live video is also available on www.cneagles.com.