VIDEO: Mike Mincey Interview

Carson-Newman Women's Basketball Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After a gut-wrenching loss to the Brevard Tornados on Wednesday night, the Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (13-2, 7-2 South Atlantic Conference) travel to Hartsville, S.C. to take on the Coker Cobras (6-9, 2-7 SAC) Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. contest.

Since the calendar flipped to 2015, the Lady Eagles are shooting 24 percent (22-92) from three-point range compared to 46 percent (87-191) from inside the arc including well over 50 percent in each of the last two games.

"We are seeing a lot of zone here of late," head coach Mike Mincey said. "We are very comfortable against the zone. Occasionally you are going to have to make some outside shots to soften up the zone. We have talked to our kids about putting the ball on the floor and getting inside of the zone and hitting 15 footers or getting all the way to the rim. We have good three-point shooters but for whatever reason we haven't hit them. I told them to keep shooting."

When Carson-Newman and Coker tangled at Holt Fieldhouse on November 22, the Lady Eagles were able to get the ball inside and freshman forward Jecca Simerly took advantage. The Talbott, Tenn. native notched her first of three double doubles this season by scoring a career-high 27 points on 13 of 16 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds.

Carson-Newman shot 49 percent from the floor despite going 4-for-19 from distance in the 78-58 victory over the Cobras. 56 of the team's 78 points came in the paint for Carson-Newman.

"We didn't press as much as we have these last few games," Mincey said. "We didn't give a lot of stuff up out of our press. We ran the high-low really well. The kids did a good job passing it into Jecca when she was open. I think we have an advantage inside against most of the teams that we play and we need to try to get the ball into the posts."

Coker won six of eight contests after losing to Carson-Newman but has lost its last three games including a 77-61 decision at Catawba on Wednesday night. The Lady Eagles and Cobras are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the SAC in three-point field goals attempted.

The Cobras are led by preseason second-team All-SAC selection Tanesha Stenson who leads the Cobras in every statistical category while ranking in the top ten in the league in assists, points, steals and rebounds.

Satruday's contest with mark the fifth all-time meeting between the programs with the Lady Eagles holding a 3-1 advantage.

The game will be available on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station 106.3 WPFT-FM and by visiting cneagles.com/live at 1:45 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off".

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