Carson-Newman Game Notes - Newberry Home

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (12-5, 9-2 South Atlantic Conference) women's basketball team will welcome the Newberry Wolves (9-6, 5-6 South Atlantic Conference) to Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Carson-Newman has won three straight, and the Lady Eagles remain in first place in the SAC standings at 9-2 in conference games.

"After the Queens loss to turn around and to get this three-game winning streak going and certainly put some points on the board has been real key for us," said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey. "Newberry is a very good team, they've lost some close games and we know it's going to be a battle – it always is. Newberry is still, even though Samantha Creed is out with injury, they are still a very talented basketball team. It's a team we're going to have to take seriously, we have to work very hard because Newberry certainly has the ability to take it to us."

Carson-Newman is coming off of an 88-72 win over Tusculum in Greeneville, Tenn., last Wednesday. Against Tusculum. Carson-Newman sophomore Jai Jai McLaughlin (Knoxville, Tenn.) recorded the program's first triple-double this century with 14 rebounds, 10 points, and a Carson-Newman Division II era record 13 assists.  The Bearden High School alum McLaughlin's historic night was the first triple-double in the SAC or the Southeast Region this season, and the eighth overall in NCAA Division II women's basketball in 2013-14.

While McLaughlin stole the show with her triple-double, freshman Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.) scored a career-high 19 points and had a double-double of her own with 11 rebounds. Sophomore Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) scored 18 points and hit five 3-pointers, senior Chante' Markus (Hummelstown, Pa.) scored in double-figures for the 12^th time this season with 14 points, and junior Jassmine Franklin (Lexington, Ky.) added 11 points in the Carson-Newman victory.

Burstrom continues to lead Carson-Newman in scoring by averaging 12.4 points per game, and she leads the conference by averaging 2.9 3-pointers per contest. Markus is second on the team in scoring by averaging 11.5 points per game and she leads the SAC in 3-point field goal shooting percentage by hitting 43.2 percent of her shots from beyond the arc.

Carson-Newman also features the league's top scoring offense by averaging 75.9 points per game, and the Lady Eagles are also the best SAC team in 3-point field goals made (126) and percentage (38).

The Wolves, coached by Sean Page, are 9-6 this season with a 5-6 mark in SAC play, tied with Anderson for seventh place in the conference standings. Newberry was picked to win the SAC in the preseason coaches poll yet has been hurt by injuries and are 3-3 in the month of January.

The Wolves are led by center Haylee Lepaio, who is third in the league with her average of 17.2 points per game. Newberry lost its last game at Coker 83-72 this past Wednesday, with Lepaio scoring 22 points.

C-N and Newberry split the regular season series last year, with Carson-Newman winning 57-39 in Jefferson City on Jan. 12, and Newberry winning 75-66 at Newberry on Feb. 16. Newberry also ended C-N's 2012-13 season in the SAC Tournament Quarterfinals at Newberry, with the Lady Eagles falling 69-58. Carson-Newman leads the all-time series 22-16.

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.