JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After an impressive opening week of basketball, Carson-Newman cracks the first Women's Basketball Division II Media Poll sponsored by D2SIDA.

Mike Mincey's team put together a pair of impressive defensive performances, holding both Lander and USC Aiken to 51 points or less. C-N's defense forced 44 turnovers and recorded 31 steals in the first two games of 2023-24.

The offense improved in the 87-47 win versus USC Aiken. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn) led all scorers with 27 points on 10 for 18 shooting. After Wykle, followed in nine other players who made at least two field goals in the rout of the Pacers.

Carson-Newman was one of nine teams that entered this week's D2CSC national poll after either receiving votes or being unranked in the preseason poll. The Eagles secured 45 points to edge Gannon (34) for the last ranked spot.

It's the first time since week 1 of last season, that Carson-Newman finds itself ranked in this media poll.

Two other South Atlantic Conference schools are ranked inside the top 25 media poll. Catawba did not play during the first week but moved up one spot to number three. Wingate has started the year 2-0 and moved up ten spots from 24 to 14.

Ashland received 15 of the 16 first-place votes to earn the top spot in the media poll. Grand Valley State is two, with Assumption and Central Missouri rounding out the top five.

The full list of rankings can be found below. The Lady Eagles return to the floor on Friday night when they travel to Americus, Georgia for the Georgia Southwestern Classic starting with a matchup with Georgia Southwestern. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with airtime starting at 6:45 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off". All the games this season can be heard on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.