JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In its lone home contest over a seven-game stretch, No. 13 Carson-Newman looks to extend its home winning streak against one-win Queens Saturday at Holt Fieldhouse. The South Atlantic Conference game tips at 2 p.m.
"This year in particular you never know when you are going to be put on pause or the other team is going to be put on pause," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "Any time you can take the floor – I know it's weird because there is no fans and the excitement is not the same but I thought our kids had fun [Wednesday]. We have been stressing that to the kids go out, have fun and play ball."
Carson-Newman (9-1, 9-1) has rattled off nine home victories in a row since losing in double overtime to No. 20 Anderson on Feb. 1, 2020 on a buzzer beater. Seven of the nine games have been decided by double figures with the unit winning by an average of 20 points. The Orange and Blue are averaging 89 points per game over that time.
The string ranks 16th in the country and the fourth-longest in the region behind North Georgia (33), Lander (22) and Barton (14). UVA Wise has the next longest streak among SAC schools at seven in a row. Since the start of the 2016-17 campaign, the Lady Eagles are 54-9 at home with two overtime losses and no loss margin greater than six points.
With a win against Queens (1-9, 1-8), the program would record its eighth double-digit home winning streak in history. The longest such string came from Jan. 2017 to Dec. 2018 winning 27 in a row. The second-longest mark was 12 set on four occasions (2014-15 to 2015-16, 2011-12 to 2012-13, 2004-05 and 1989-90).
Saturday is the 15th installment of Carson-Newman and Queens with the Lady Eagles winning each of the last 12, their longest current string against any SAC member, after dropping the first two of the series. Ten of the 12 contests have been decided by double figures with the average margin of 24 including a separation of 27 at Holt Fieldhouse. Each of the last six victories at home for Mincey's crew has come by at least 17 with five of the six by 20 or more.
In two onslaughts last year, the Orange and Blue made 15 and 14 three-pointers respectively shooting above 50 percent combined. At Mossy Creek, Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) matched the school record with seven three-pointers on 11 tries and Addison Byrd (Nashville, Tenn.) added 22 points off of the bench.
Queens shot below 36 percent from the field in both outings making nine total shots from long range. Kristian Eanes went 13-for-17 at the line netting 21 points in the loss at Holt while Taylor Stevens scored in double figures in both outings with 15 in the Volunteer State.
The Royals have one of the longest road losing streaks in the nation having dropped 15 in a row, the 16th longest drought in Division II. The last win came on Dec. 18, 2019, a 77-63 win at Coker. Queens improved to 2-2 in league play at the time before losing 16 of the final 18. This season, the club is scoring more points and shooting better in its six road games but have lost by 45 and 40 in its last two road games to Newberry and Wise.
There are six different categories where the program ranks last in the league including scoring offense (60.8), field-goal percentage (34.9) and field-goal percentage (45.7). Queens has shot 40 percent or worse in every single game this year.
Four teams have made at least half of their field-goal attempts and all but three have converted at 41 percent or better. Those four games have come in the last five outings with teams shooting 51 percent in that stretch. Lincoln Memorial shot 58 percent on Wednesday and buried 19 of 33, 58 percent, from long distance.
Kalaya Hall leads the team in scoring and ranks eighth in the conference at just above 14 points per game behind 24 three-pointers, the sixth-most in the SAC. She has been in double figures in eight games but is shooting 37 percent from the field and 31 percent from distance.
Tune into the broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network starting at 1:45 for "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) with audio and video streams available on cneagles.com/live free of charge.
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