Carson-Newman Women's Basketball Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – To help raise awareness for breast cancer, Carson-Newman will hold its annual Play4Kay event Wednesday night when Tusculum comes to Mossy Creek for a 6 p.m. start at Holt Fieldhouse.

"You are honoring a great coach in Kay Yow," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "She was a legendary coach and to have one of your peers pass away from a terrible disease like that you want to do everything you can and do your part to donate money and to raise awareness. We are just trying to do our part. I know in the past we've done a pretty good job and a lot of the teams in our league have given a lot."

Play4Kay 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 for $15 at the event and donations will be accepted at the entrance 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 proceeds from Wednesday's game will benefit the Kay Yow Fund.

The Lady Eagles will wear pink shoelaces, sport pink socks, wear pink t-shirts for pregame warm-ups, and have a variety of pink accents during the game while the coaching staff will be wearing pink.

Carson-Newman and Tusculum meet for the 69th time Wednesday evening with C-N holding a 52-16 advantage in the all-time series including wins in each of the last five meetings, four by double figures and one by nine points.

Tusculum's last win the series came on Feb. 6, 2013 at Holt Fieldhouse as the Pioneers took a 77-68 decision. The score was tied at 40 after 20 minutes of action thank to a 12-0 Tusculum run at the beginning of the second half.

Carson-Newman is 16-3 against Tusculum at Holt Fieldhouse since 1996-97. The three wins for the Pioneers came on Feb. 16, 2008, Jan. 12, 2011 and Feb. 6, 2013.

In the first meeting this season the Lady Eagles captured a 68-47 victory in Greeneville as Ashton Wykle scored a career-high 18 points, all from three-point range. Tusculum was led by Kasey Johnson's 18 points and Kristen McMillion's 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Tusculum enters Wednesday's contest having lost three of its last four contests including three of its last four contests on the road.

Offensively the Pioneers trade three-point attempts for higher efficiency as they have attempted the third-fewest triples in the nation while ranking third in the league in field-goal percentage at 41.5 percent. 13 times this season Tusculum has made three or fewer shots from beyond the arc while shooting above 40 percent from the floor on 14 occasions with a 10-4 record in those outings.

Shynese Whitener continues to be one of the best players in the league leading the conference with 18.2 points per game while ranking sixth nationally with 3.24 steals per game. 19 times this year she has scored in double figures. The senior has had forgettable games against C-N in her career averaging five turnovers over her last five games and shooting 31 percent. In the last two contests against the Lady Eagles she has scored a total of 13 points with 12 turnovers and going 5-for-28 from the floor.

The game will be broadcast on 106.3 WPFT-FM beginning at 5:45 p.m. with the Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off. A video stream will be provided by visiting cneagles.com/live for the Eagle Sports Network's broadcast coverage.

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