VIDEO: Mike Mincey Interview

Carson-Newman Women's Basketball Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The month of January comes to a close for Carson-Newman when the Lady Eagles host Queens (N.C.) Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Holt Fieldhouse.

Carson-Newman (14-5, 8-5 South Atlantic Conference) is 6-2 in the first month of the year while holding a five-game winning streak at home.

The Lady Eagles have one of the top three-point shooting duos in the country in senior Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) and junior Kailyn Brooks (Lafayette, Tenn.) as the pair have combined to make 90 triples on the year. Burstrom is the program's leader while Brooks has quietly moved to seventh all-time and has a chance to break the school-record of 72 made three-pointers in a season.

"That's been a strength of our team all year, three-point shooting ability," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "It's happened a lot at home and unfortunately it's only happened a few times on the road. If it could happen more on the road we wouldn't have had the losses we've had. "

Carson-Newman has won three straight in the series and leads 3-2 as Saturday marks the sixth all-time meeting between the programs with the contests beginning in 2014.

The first meeting of the season saw Carson-Newman take a 72-50 decision in Charlotte. Senior guard Tatum Burstrom broke the school record from made three-pointers in a career scoring 16 points and going 6-for-10 from the floor. With 14 steals, Carson-Newman forced 22 turnovers which it turned into 28 points at the other end of the floor.

The Royals (3-14, 1-11 SAC) enter Saturday having lost 13 consecutive road games dating back over a calendar year to Jan. 21, 2015, a 52-50 victory at Lenoir-Rhyne.

Queens picked up its first win in league play this season topping winless Brevard on Monday 69-48 snapping a 12-game losing streak.

On the year, the Royals have scored the sixth-fewest points in the nation averaging 53.1 points per night having scored fewer than 50 points on six occasions.

Of the national stats kept by the NCAA, the Royals rank in the bottom 25 in the country in 14 of the 32 categories.

Queens ranks 295th in field-goal percentage defense allowing a 44.6 percent clip while placing 296th in three-point percentage defense allowing 37.1 percent.

Carmen Richardson has been the bright spot from an individual perspective leading the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game on the year. The sophomore has scored in double figures in 12 of 15 games including nine of her last 10 this season with two nights of 22 points. She did not play in the first meeting this season.

Richardson is joined in double figures by junior McKell Oliverio at 10.8 points per game. In the first meeting, Oliverio and Sheridan Pressley combined for 39 of the team's 50 points while the rest of the group went 6-for-29 from the floor.

The game will be broadcast locally on 106.3 WPFT-FM and internationally on cneagles.com/live courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network. Pregame coverage begins at 1:45 p.m. with the Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off.

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