VIDEO: Kayla and Kelci Marosites Interview
INDIANAPOLIS – For the third consecutive season, Carson-Newman has punched a ticket to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championships released Sunday evening. The Lady Eagles are the No. 6 seed and will play No. 3 seed Anderson Friday at noon.
Dancing for the 10th time in program history, this is the first time that the school has been to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Carson-Newman had been to the dance in back-to-back seasons once doing so in 2009 and 2010. This year is the fourth time in coach Mike Mincey's nine seasons at Mossy Creek that the Lady Eagles are in the field of 64.
"It's been a great season," Mincey said. "We have played really well. We scored it well. We have had some big moments. Obviously we have lost some really critical games close that kept us from attaining our first goal which is a regular-season title. We have had a great year. Any time you can win 20 games and be solidly in the NCAA Tournament you have to feel good about yourself. We have played well. I am really proud of how we shot the ball."
The last time the program made an appearance in at least three postseason tournaments in a row came from 1989-93 when it went to five consecutive NAIA District 26 Playoffs winning three contests over that stretch.
In 15 postseason games since joining Division II, Carson-Newman is 6-9 having won the first round contest in 2005, 2010 and 2018. Three of the wins came en route to a region title in 2018 and two came in 2005 when it was members of the South Atlantic Region losing the final to Shaw 67-53.
����
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) March 9, 2020
Inside @CNwbasketball's reaction to making a third straight @NCAADII tournament. pic.twitter.com/Fi1tpE9rhA
A school from the South Atlantic Conference has advanced to the Elite Eight on six occasions with Wingate going in 1995, 1996 and 2008. Mars Hill advanced to the national quarterfinals in 2002 and Tusculum made a trip in 2010. No program has won a game in the Elite Eight in those six outings.
Once again one of the top 10 scoring teams in the country, Carson-Newman has drilled 323 three-pointers establishing a new program and conference single-season record doing so 30 games. The Lady Eagles clinched a fourth straight 20-win campaign, their longest in 30 years.
First-team all-conference selections, Kayla Marosites (Elizabethton, Tenn.) and Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) gave C-N two members on the top squad for a second straight year, a feat that had been accomplished once before in school history.
Marosites, a double-double machine, ranks in the top 10 nationally in rebounds, rebounding average and double-doubles posting 24 on a senior year. Wykle, the league's Freshman of the Year, ranks in the top 10 in the country in three-point efficiency.
"It's been awesome," Marosites said. "The first year I came here we went to the Elite Eight. That was so amazing like a journey like no other. To be able to have 20-plus wins every year has been really fun. We have to work hard in practice bringing the competitiveness and energy every day so we can get the win and keep playing."
This season is the third time that the program will face a fellow SAC team and the second tournament outing against Anderson. The Lady Eagles beat Lenoir-Rhyne 79-72 in the opening round on March 12, 2010 in Greenwood, S.C and took down the Trojans en route to the 2018 region title, 70-62, in the first round in a one versus eight matchup.
This will be the 25th time the two clubs have met on the hardwood with the Lady Eagles holding a 13-12 edge despite losing both regular-season outings and each of the last four. In the two meetings the teams were tied for 14:14 in games decided by three and two points in double overtime.
Overall in the 11 years of the Southeast Regional, No. 1 seeds have won five titles, second-seeded North Georgia won in 2019, seven seeds have won three titles, with third-seeded Clayton State in 2009 and fourth-seeded Lander in 2012 taking home the other two. Six titles have been won by the Peach Belt, three by Conference Carolinas and two by the SAC.
Lander, the top seed in the region, is the top seed and will host the tournament with quarterfinal games on Friday, the semifinals on Saturday with the championship tilt Monday evening. The Bearcats won the Peach Belt and went wire-to-wire in the region rankings to host the regional and will play Conference Carolinas Tournament Champion Limestone who beat Belmont Abbey and Barton in the tournament to take the title and return to the postseason.
Tusculum, the SAC Tournament Champions and the unit that beat C-N on Saturday, jumped up to the four seed and takes on the regular-season Conference Carolinas champion and top-25 club Belmont Abbey.
The two versus seven matchup will be a pit a pair of Peach Belt clubs that beat the Lady Eagles in November. Reigning region titleholders North Georgia will tangle with Clayton State for a third consecutive week.
The winner of the Southeast advances to the National Quarterfinals in Birmingham, Ala. at the Birmingham Crossplex from March 24-27. The eight region champions will get reseeded and matchups will be announced following the conclusion of the regional rounds.
Friday, March 13, 2020 (Greenwood, S.C.)
12 p.m. - #3 Anderson vs. #6 Carson-Newman
2:30 p.m. #2 North Georgia vs. #7 Clayton State
5 p.m. #1 Lander v. #8 Limestone
7:30 p.m. - #4 Tusculum v. #5 Belmont Abbey
Saturday, March 14, 2020 (Greenwood, S.C.)
5 p.m. – Region Semifinal No. 1
7:30 p.m. - Region Semifinal No. 2
Monday, March 16, 2020 (Greenwood, S.C.)
7 p.m. - Southeast Region Championship Game
- CN -