Carson-Newman Game Notes - Catawba Road

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (12-7, 9-4 South Atlantic Conference) women's basketball team will travel to face the Catawba Lady Indians (8-9, 6-7 South Atlantic Conference) at Goodman Gymnasium in Salisbury, N.C., on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Carson-Newman is in the midst of its only losing streak of the season, having lost its last two games, and the Lady Eagles are now in a three-way tie with Lincoln Memorial and Lenoir-Rhyne for second place in the SAC standings at 9-4, one game back of first place Wingate who is 10-3.

"We've kind of hit a rough patch but I believe this team is ready to turn it back around," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "We are still in contention but we must make open shots better than the last two games."

Carson-Newman is coming off of a 72-51 road loss at Anderson last Wednesday night. Anderson used a 6-0 run to close the first half then an 8-0 run to begin the second half to put the game out of reach for Carson-Newman, as the Lady Eagles dropped their second straight contest.

Carson-Newman was led in scoring by sophomore Jai Jai McLaughlin (Knoxville, Tenn.), as she was the only player to hit double-figures in scoring. Senior Chante' Markus (Hummelstown, Pa.) scored eight points in the contest, seeing her streak of five consecutive games in double-digit scoring come to an end.

Sophomore Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) continues to lead Carson-Newman in scoring by averaging 11.5 points per game, although she has only scored seven points combined in the last two games to go along with a 3-for-24 (1-for-15 from 3-point land) shooting performance from the field in those losses.

Carson-Newman won the first meeting against Catawba 66-58 at Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday Dec. 7. Carson-Newman trailed 43-33 with 12:25 to play before unleashing a furious 18-0 run to take a 51-43 lead with 7:31 to go, and the Lady Eagles held on as Carson-Newman took the top spot in the SAC standings with the victory, becoming the lone school to start the conference schedule unbeaten at 4-0. The Lady Eagles were led in scoring by senior Chante' Markus (Hummelstown, Pa.) as she scored a career-high 16 points and she hit four 3-pointers, two of which fueled Carson-Newman's 18-0 run to take control of the game.

Catawba has lost four straight games, and is in eighth place in the SAC at 6-7. 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 34-22 lead in the series against Catawba in a total of 55 meetings. C-N leads the series 4-3 over the past seven meetings. C-N split the season series with Catawba last year, losing 66-58 at Holt Fieldhouse on Jan. 26 before a 60-59 win at Catawba on Feb. 27.

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.