Carson-Newman Game Notes - Tusculum Road

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (11-5, 8-2 South Atlantic Conference) women's basketball team will travel to face the Tusculum Pioneers (1-13, 1-9 South Atlantic Conference) at Pioneer Arena in Greeneville, Tenn., on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m.

Carson-Newman remains in first place in the SAC standings at 8-2 in conference play, and earlier this season defeated Tusculum by 10 points at Holt Fieldhouse on Nov. 20.

"It's Tusculum and Carson-Newman, it's a rivalry game so you throw the records out the window," said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey. "They are going to want to beat us for sure at their home gym, so our kids have to come in with a businesslike approach in practice to prepare and then go up there and give the same kind of effort we saw Saturday against Coker."

Carson-Newman is coming off of a 74-56 win over the Coker Cobras last Saturday at Holt Fieldhouse.

The Lady Eagles never trailed in the contest, and Carson-Newman was led in scoring for the fifth time this season by senior Chante' Markus (Hummelstown, Pa.) with her 15 points. She was joined in double-figures by freshman Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.) who scored 12 points to go along with her seven rebounds and five blocks.

Sophomore Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) continues to lead the Lady Eagles in scoring by averaging 12.1 points per game. She also is best in the SAC and 25^th nationally by averaging 2.75 3-pointers per contest.

Carson-Newman won the first meeting against Tusculum 78-68 at Holt Fieldhouse on Nov. 20. Carson-Newman never led in the first half after Tusculum began the game on a 14-2 run, and the Lady Eagles erased a seven-point halftime deficit and at one point a nine-point deficit midway in the second half only to rally back to collect the victory over their in-state rival.

Sophomore point guard Jai Jai McLaughlin (Knoxville, Tenn.) led Carson-Newman in scoring in the victory with 21 points, 12 of which came in the second half as she set a career-high in scoring.

The Pioneers are 1-13 with a 1-9 record in conference play. The only win for Tusculum this season came on Jan. 3 at home, knocking off the preseason SAC favorite Newberry 71-56.

Tusculum is led in scoring by guard Shynese Whitener who is averaging 12.4 points per game and the Pioneers feature the top rebounder in the SAC in Kristen McMillion, who averages 10.1 rebounds per contest.

The Pioneers swept Carson-Newman last season, and Tusculum has won five of the past seven meetings. Carson-Newman hasn't won in Greeneville since the 2009-10 season, when the Lady Eagles win 90-77 on Jan. 16, 2010.

Wednesday's game will be carried on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station WPFT-FM 106.3 FM, with coverage beginning at 5:45 p.m. with "The Countdown to Tipoff," and live audio is also available on www.cneagles.com.