Carson-Newman Game Notes - Wingate Road

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (8-3, 5-0 South Atlantic Conference) women's basketball team will return to conference play by traveling to face the Wingate Bulldogs (8-1, 4-1 South Atlantic Conference) at Cuddy Arena on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Saturday's matchup features the two of the top teams in the SAC, with Carson-Newman in first place at 5-0, and Wingate is tied for second with Catawba at 4-1.

"I felt like we were playing pretty well going into the break with a win at Lenoir-Rhyne and certainly a good second half against Kentucky Wesleyan," said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey. "So it was hard to break for those 10 or 11 days but we've had a good week of practice and we've tried to knock some of the rust off. I think we're prepared to go face a very good Wingate team."

The Lady Eagles are coming off an 83-71 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan on Dec. 18 at Holt Fieldhouse. Carson-Newman trailed by five points at the half, only to outscore the Lady Panthers 50-33 in the second half in the final non-conference matchup of the season.

Carson-Newman was once again led in scoring by sophomore Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) who scored in the mid-20's for a second straight game with 25 points as she was 7-for-15 from 3-point land, scoring 22 of her 25 points in the second half to help lead the Lady Eagles to victory.

Burstrom now leads the Lady Eagles in scoring by averaging 12.8 points per contest.

The Bulldogs, coached by Ann Hancock, are 8-1 on the season and are tied for second in the SAC at 4-1, just one game back of Carson-Newman. Wingate's lone loss came on Nov. 20 against Catawba, but since then the Bulldogs have reeled off six straight victories.

Wingate is led in scoring by guard Janitsha Williams, who is averaging 16.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest. By averaging 16.4 points per game, Williams is third in the SAC in scoring average, behind only Newberry's Haylee Lepaio (17.4) and Lenoir-Rhyne's Jazmine Charles (17.2). Wingate was picked to finish third in the preseason SAC coaches poll.

Carson-Newman has won five of the last six regular season meetings with the Bulldogs, and last season swept the season series with Carson-Newman winning 49-46 at Wingate on Feb. 2 before beating the Bulldogs again 56-50 on March 2.

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 audio is also available on www.cneagles.com.