Carson-Newman Women's Basketball Game Notes
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman opens the doors to Holt Fieldhouse Wednesday evening for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against King (Tenn.) looking for a ninth straight victory in a home opener.
"They have a lot of experience," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "They are expecting a big year and had two big wins over Tusculum and Mars Hill. They are coming in here with a lot of confidence. They are shooting the ball extremely well right now.
"I'm just looking forward to seeing our kids play. Are we going to take what happened over the weekend and use it as a motivator and not get killed on the boards or turn the ball over?"
The Lady Eagles have never lost a contest to King winning all 18 meetings including a 75-66 decision in Bristol, Tenn. in 2015.
C-N took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter last season and surged for a 15-4 run to begin the final frame. Tatum Burstrom led all scorers with 16 points while Taylor Peterson and Kayla Newman each had 13 points. Ashley Albertson led the Tornado with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Carson-Newman is 13-3 in home openers since the start of the 2000-01 season and has won eight straight contests. The three losses came in 2000, 2001 and most recently an 81-79 setback against North Georgia on Nov. 16, 2007.
King is coming off of a second-place finish in Conference Carolinas finishing the 2015-16 with a 19-12 overall record and a 16-6 mark in the league while advancing to the conference tournament championship game for the first time in program history.
The Tornado were picked to finish third in the conference this season by the league's coaches. With two first-place votes, they are behind five-time reigning champ Limestone and Mount Olive in the preseason poll.
The unit returns four starters and a total of 12 letterwinners while looking to replace just two players from last season's group.
Josh Thompson's club begins the season with four contests against South Atlantic Conference foes having defeated Tusculum 86-63 and Mars Hill 69-43 to begin the season marking the first time as a member of Division II that King has begun the season 2-0.
Sheena Johnson was named the Conference Carolinas Player of the Week after averaging 19.5 points per game. The sophomore scored 20 versus Tusculum and 19 versus Mars Hill while going 15-for-25 from the floor.
Third-team all-conference pick Whitney Mitchell is the team's top returning overall player scoring 9.4 points per game while handing out 69 assists and tallying 48 steals.
Senior Jalan Harper was the conference's Defensive Player of the Year last season ranking fifth in the league with 64 steals while averaging 8.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
Broadcast coverage begins at 5:15 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM. The game will also be available on cneagles.com/live with a high definition video stream.
- CN -
