The Lady Eagles are coming off a 78-65 loss to the Anderson Trojans Wednesday night as head coach Mike Mincey's group is trying to avoid a sustained skid.

"We lost to a good team in Anderson at home," Mincey said. "We didn't play particularly well. We certainly gave up too many offensive rebounds. We didn't score the basketball around the basket like I know we are capable. We have to make sure that we don't turn around and start giving games up to teams that are below us."

The Indians have won four of their last six outings thanks in large part to the return of sophomore forward Jada Huntley who is averaging 14.5 points and 10.9 rebounds since returning to the lineup eight games ago. In an 80-72 victory against Lenoir-Rhyne Wednesday night, Huntley put up 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting from the floor to go along with eight rebounds.

The Lady Eagles have been excellent against opponent's leading scorers this season holding the top scorer to under their season average on 12 occasions this year while holding them to a 38 percent field goal percentage.

"A lot of the time it's been Whitney Kyle because she has that responsibility of guard the other team's best scorer," Mincey said. "It didn't work out for us the other night because [Anderson's leading scorer Lesley] Woods didn't score a basket but we lose by 13."

Carson-Newman won the first meeting this season on December 6 in Salisbury, N.C. by taking a 73-65 decision. The Lady Eagles overcame an 11-point halftime deficit by shooting 52 percent from the floor and making all 15 second half free throw attempts to earn the victory.

Freshman forward Jecca Simerly (Talbott, Tenn.) led a group of four double-digit scorers with 16 points and nine rebounds. Sophomores Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) and Kaitlyn Cupples (Clinton, Tenn.) had 14 and 13 points respectively while junior Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) added 11.

Catawba had three players in double figures including a double-double from Terri Rogers who posted 15 points and 17 rebounds.

Saturday's matchup marks the 61^st time that the two programs compete as the Indians hold a 35-25 advantage in the all-time series.

Pregame coverage begins at 1:45 p.m. on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station 106.3 WPFT-FM with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" or by visiting cneagles.com/live for a high definition video stream. 

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