KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Carson-Newman and Tennessee begin their 2023-24 seasons on Monday night at 6:30 p.m. inside Thompson-Boling Arena squaring off in an exhibition matchup.
"Every time we get a chance to go down the road to Knoxville and play the Lady Vols it's an exciting time for our team," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. For most of our players, it will be the second year in a row we've gotten to do this. They are going to be talented as always, and big as well. We have Lindsey (Taylor) at 6'2 and Ruth (Mbugua) at 6'4 so we can somewhat matchup with them down there. Last year we had a great first quarter against them and then Lindsey got in foul trouble, and it went downhill from there. We look forward to playing again tomorrow."
The Lady Eagles return all but one player from this past season. Headlining the returnees is WBCA Honorable Mention All-American Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.). The graduate student guard enters the year 202 points away from becoming the school's all-time leading scorer. The 4-time First Team All-SAC performer averaged nearly 21 points per game this past season, while shooting 49 percent from the field and 43 from behind the arc.
Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) returns for her junior season after scoring 12.5 points per game and grabbing 6.1 rebounds as a sophomore. Carson-Newman will be glad to have former SAC tournament MVP Lindsey Taylor back on the floor after the post player suffered a season-ending knee injury in the fourth game of the season last year. Taylor enters the season needing just 20 points to become C-N's 30th player to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Mincey's team put forth the best scoring offense in the SAC for the eighth straight season in 2022-23, averaging 74.2 points per game. That mark was 22nd best in the country.
Tennessee has won each exhibition game and scored triple digits in 13 of the 17 meetings. This series dates all the way back to 1920 when the Lady Eagles defeated the Lady Vols 14-13. UT has won 29 meetings in a row since C-N won last on Feb 9, 1925.
The Lady Vols enter the year as the 11th ranked team in the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll. ESPN's initial bracketology has Tennessee as a projected 3 seed to start the season.
Tennessee made a run to the Sweet 16 a year ago before falling to number 1 seed Virginia Tech, 73-64. The Lady Vols entered the NCAA Tournament winners of six of their last eight games, with one of those losses coming to South Carolina in the SEC Championship game.
UT also returns a veteran group with six players who combined to start 122 games in 2022-23 and 466 contests during their careers. Fifth-year head coach Kellie Harper also welcomes an NCAA Transfer Portal class ranked No. 6 in the nation by 247Sports, that features a trio of shooters who combined for 197 three-pointers made in 2022-23.
Headlining the UT's returners is Rickea Jackson who has earned preseason All-SEC first team honors after averaging 19.2 points per game last season. Jewel Spear and Tamari Key were also recognized as All-SEC preseason second team picks. The Lady Vols have been picked to finish third in the SEC.
Monday night's exhibition contest will be broadcast through the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live and 106.3 (WPFT-FM) starting at 6:15 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off". The game with also be streaming on the ESPN app with coverage on SEC Network+.
