WINGATE, N.C. – In the final of a three-part challenging road week for 13th-ranked Carson-Newman, the Lady Eagles hop on the bus on Wednesday to make the nearly 250-mile trek to South Atlantic Conference foe Wingate facing off against the Bulldogs for the second time in 10 days at 5:30 p.m.
"It's hard to play over there," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "One day of rest. It's going to be tough at Wingate. They just beat LMU the other day. We go over there and try our best. [Monday] didn't start out great and I didn't like how things were going and then the second half gives me a little more confidence the way we are leaving [the Anderson game] going into the Wingate game on Wednesday."
Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Carson-Newman (8-1, 8-1) has averaged at least 78 points per game on the road combining to average 82 points in true road affairs. To put that into perspective, the Lady Eagles led the conference in scoring in 2016-17 at 80.7 points per game for the entire season. This year's team is less efficient from the floor but is making 75 percent at the line and yanking down 48 rebounds per game through four road affairs.
One area where the Lady Eagles are finding more success is from two-point range. After ranking second in the country in three-pointers made in 2019-20 and being on target to break the SAC's single-season record, the team is averaging six triples per game, the lowest since 2014-15. The Orange and Blue are making 53 percent from inside the arc. The only other season in Mincey's tenure where the team made more than half was during the Elite Eight year of 2017-18, a 51 percent clip.
Those numbers are influenced by Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.). The sophomore is shooting 65 percent from the field and is 22-for-32 since going 0-for-4 at Tusculum. If you take out that game and a contest versus Anderson where she went 0-for-3 she is making 72 percent from the floor.
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Carson-Newman has not beaten Wingate in two straight regular-season games since Ann Hancock's first year at Wingate (5-7, 5-6) in 2012-13 winning by three at Cuddy Arena and by six at home. The Lady Eagles won the regular-season finale and SAC Tournament title in 2017-18. Overall the Bulldogs lead the series 44-34 including a 21-13 lead at home. The last time the team won three in a row of any kind came during a six-game stretch from 2009-11, the longest streak by C-N in series history.
Last year in the Tar Heel State, C-N won 77-55, its largest win ever at Cuddy Arena and just its fourth ever by double figures. The Lady Eagles had dropped six in a row before the triumph and have not won back-to-back visits since 2010 and 2011.
When the teams met 10 days ago, the Lady Eagles set the program for shot blocks with 13 but led by just one with 1:55 to play in the third before outscoring the Bulldogs 38-13 over the final 12 minutes to post its largest win over Wingate since 1999.
Five Lady Eagles finished in double figures led by 21 points from Taylor on 9-for-10 shooting as the Orange and Blue racked up five scoring runs of at least nine unanswered points.
Since losing at Holt Fieldhouse, Hancock's club lost by four at Coker before beating Lincoln Memorial at home on Saturday by 11. The unit has been better at home with a record of 3-2. While the overall shooting percentage is nearly identical, the Bulldogs are more efficient from three and shoot 85 percent at the free-throw line. It also collects five more rebounds per game and turns the ball over nearly four times fewer.
One player that has turned her game up another level is sophomore Bryanna Troutman. She has scored at least 16 points in four consecutive contests after just two such affairs in the first seven. Troutman is averaging 19 points and 10 boards making 53 percent from the field and is coming off of 25 points and 15 rebounds against the Railsplitters.
Conversely, Haleigh Hatfield has failed to score double figures in three of the last four after opening the year five double-digit efforts. The High Point transfer is shooting 28 percent from the field in that stretch averaging nine points.
Outside of the loss to C-N, Wingate lost by one, five and four points in January. It is one of the strongest offensive rebounding teams in the country with the team averaging 19 per game with at least a dozen in each game. Over the last three outings, the Bulldogs have pulled down 25, 20 and 20 respectively.
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 an audio links on cneagles.com/live.
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