JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A road trip to King (Tenn.) is on the docket for Carson-Newman Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. as the Lady Eagles begin a stretch of three games in a 42-hour span looking to build upon two quality wins to start the year.
"It's a quick turnaround leading into three games in four days," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "We are going to have to keep it light to make sure their bodies are sharp. I think there are several stars on the team. It wasn't just one person. It was a collection of many that put up a lot of points."
Carson-Newman (2-0) is looking to score 90 or more points in a third straight game for the fourth time and first since doing so in a record four straight outings from Jan. 10-21, 2009. This is the 14th time the program has done it in two straight.
The two programs will meet at Holt Fieldhouse on Dec. 30 in a series that the Lady Eagles own an 18-0 record. Last year, C-N drubbed King (1-1) by a 107-71 tally in one of two games that the club made a program record 15 three-pointers.
Mika Wester scored a game-high 25 points and Kailyn Brooks had 22 points to become the first C-N duo with at least 20 points in a game since Zoriah Williams and Shannon Depew each tallied 21 at Lenoir-Rhyne on Feb. 29, 2012.
Wester went 10-for-16 from the floor and added 10 rebounds for her first-career double-double to go along with three assists, three steals and two blocks.
The Lady Eagles assisted on 27 of its 38 made shots in the game and outrebounded King 57-31. With 26 offensive rebounds, C-N converted those chances into 29 second-chance points.
Sheena Johnson led King with 18 points in the game going six-for-14 from the field and Emily Kiser added 11 as the only two players in double figures. Overall, King posted a 43 percent clip from the club boosted by making 52 percent of its shots in the second half.
The Tornado landed as the No. 7 seed in the 2017 NCAA playoff field after winning their first Conference Carolinas tournament title over Limestone on Whitney Mitchell's free throws with 6.2 seconds left on the clock to clinch the program's first-ever postseason berth. The club was picked to finish second in the league behind Limestone this year.
After winning 25 games last season, coach Josh Thompson has eight newcomers on his roster. Leading the returners is senior center Amy Van Deventer who averaged five points and five rebounds per game a year ago.
To open the year, King split a pair of games against South Atlantic Conference foes beating Mars Hill 67-53 before falling 96-60 at Tusculum.
The Tornado made 33 percent of their shots from the field in the opening weekend including 11 of 41 attempts from long distance. Against Mars Hill, the unit collected 24 offensive rebounds converting that into 19 points.
Senior guard Arnelle Collins is one of three players to average double-digit points after the first weekend scoring 10 and 16 points respectively.
After recording four points in her debut, freshman Che' Davis racked up 18 points against Tusculum going eight-for-11 from the field in 30 minutes of action.
Rounding out the scoring options is junior Kristen Cupples who racked up 16 points in the opener. She is the younger sister of former C-N player Kaitlyn Cupples who ranks third on C-N's career block list with 129.
Audio coverage of the contest will be available on cneagles.com/live and Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) starting 15 minutes before the two sides collide with "The Applachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on the Eagle Sports Network.
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