Carson-Newman Women's Basketball Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles (17-9, 11-9 South Atlantic Conference) prepare for their Play 4Kay night at Holt Fieldhouse as the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters (14-12, 11-9 SAC) come to Mossy Creek for a 3 p.m. tip-off Wednesday night.

"Going back home for our last two games, we have two quality opponents," Mincey said. "They know what they have to do and what's at stake. LMU had a great win against Wingate and turn around and go on the road like us and win at Brevard. They have to play the three games in five days which is challenging, but they are playing about 10 players so they'll probably be all right."

The final two games of the year for Carson-Newman will determine where the Lady Eagles play in the opening round of the conference tournament and which seed it will be. If the Lady Eagles win both games and Catawba loses both games, Mincey's group will be the four seed and host the opening round game. If the Lady Eagles go 1-1 or worse, Carson-Newman will be the No. 6 seed as Lincoln Memorial would hold any tiebreak by virtue of a 1-1 season mark against Wingate.

Wednesday night is also important as Carson-Newman holds its annual Play 4Kay night. Play 4Kay began in 2007 having raised nearly $3 million to support women's cancer research. The Kay Yow Fund is the official charity of the initiative and fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game.

T-shirts will be sold at the event to help support the initiative and money is being raised through play donations and a box will be available for people to drop donations. The majority of the proceeds from Wednesday's game will benefit the Kay Yow Fund.

The Lady Eagles will wear pink shoelaces and have a variety of pink accents during the game while the coaching staff will be wearing pink.

In the first meeting this year, the Railsplitters earned a 90-85 overtime victory. Carson-Newman trailed 72-68 with 24 seconds to play in regulation as freshman forward Allison Hodge (Blaine, Tenn.) scored four points down the stretch to send the game to overtime.

In the extra session, Carson-Newman held a 79-76 lead with 2:38 to play in the game, but the Railsplitters made 7 of 9 field goal attempts in overtime to pull away for a five-point win which would be their largest lead of the game.

Wednesday's contest will be the 79^th time the two sides meet on the hardwood with Carson-Newman holding a 49-29 lead in the all-time series.

Pregame coverage begins at 2:45 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station 106.3 WPFT-FM or by tuning in to cneagles.com/live for a high definition video broadcast of the game.

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