JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In a scheduling quirk, Carson-Newman begins a home-and-home week with King Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. playing its first contest of the year at Holt Fieldhouse looking to build on a 2-0 start to the season and win the 800th game in school history.
Carson-Newman (2-0) has won 11 consecutive home openers since its last loss on Nov. 16, 2007 when North Georgia upended the Lady Eagles 81-79 to open the 2007-08 campaign. In the past three seasons, C-N is 39-6 at Mossy Creek with none of the losses decided by greater than five points.
Coach Mike Mincey's team lost the last time it played at the friendly confines to Lincoln Memorial in South Atlantic Conference Quarterfinals. The Lady Eagles have not lost back-to-back games at Holt since Feb. 17 and Feb. 20, 2016 to Tusculum and Wingate.
The Lady Eagles hold a 21-0 all-time advantage against King (1-1) marking the best start to a series in C-N's history when the two clubs started playing in 1981. Previously the school had begun 18-0 against Lincoln Memorial, 17-0 versus Brevard and 16-0 against Mars Hill.
Fourteen of the outings have been decided by double digits with the closest outing over the last three decades coming on Feb. 23, 1989 when King fell by a point, 85-84, at Holt Fieldhouse. It is one of three contests that the final outcome was within two possessions.
The Orange and Blue have won the 12 meetings in Jefferson City by an average margin of 30 points. The Tornado have lost by at least 13 points in each game with the exception of the 1989 tight tussle. In the last two outings, C-N has won by 44 and 36.
A year ago, C-N outlasted King with a 71-65 victory on the road leading for all but 14 seconds behind five double-figure scorers. Kayla Marosites (Elizabethton, Tenn.) led the Lady Eagles with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four assists going 6-for-11 from the field. Caroline Harville (Morristown, Tenn.) had a career game with 12 points while adding four rebounds in 26 minutes.
Both teams shot 37 percent from the field but the Lady Eagles scored 15 points off of 12 turnovers getting 24 points from the bench. Kristen Cupples led the way for the Tornado with 16 points while Kori West added 11 points and 14 boards.
Coach Josh Thompson's team finished the 2018-19 season fifth in the Conference Carolinas standings while not playing the conference's tournament title match for the first time in five years. The Tornado were picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll.
King opens the season with five straight SAC clubs posting a 90-62 victory over Mars Hill while falling to Tusculum 82-62 on its home floor over the weekend.
Two areas stand out from the first two outings. The Tornado made 19 three-pointers, the 25th-most of any team nationally while blocking 10 shots, the 19th-most in the country. Seven different players made at least one triple. Julie Ford and West each had four rejections.
Trinity Lee, the 2018-19 Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year, scored 40 points making 65 percent of her shots including seven of 10 from long range. The sophomore added 11 boards, six assists and four steals. She scored 12 points against C-N a year ago going 4-for-12 from the field.
West is battling back from a season-ending injury that limited the post player to just 11 games a year ago. At the time she was posting 15 points and 12 rebounds per game. The senior is shooting 51 percent for her career but made just six of 16 to begin this season.
Broadcast coverage for Wednesday evening's affair starts at 5:15 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station, 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville), and online with video and audio links on cneagles.com/live.
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