Carson-Newman Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles basketball team (9-3, 3-2 South Atlantic Conference will face a road challenge on Saturday, facing the Anderson Trojans (10-5, 4-1 South Atlantic Conference) at Abney Athletic Center in Anderson, S.C., at 2 p.m.

The Lady Eagles have won their last two contests, including a 70-49 triumph at Mars Hill, and Carson-Newman has won two of its last three games in conference play.

"In the past few years we've struggled on the road at Mars Hill," said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey. "We were kind of headed that way to start the second half to struggle again, but I was really proud of the way our team responded and made that run with about 14 minutes to go to get us the lead and certainly that lead above 20 points and one that we could hold onto as we went down the stretch."

On Wednseday, the Lady Eagles led by 12 at halftime, and led by as many as 25 points in the second half as Shyra Clark (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Courdne Miles (Burlington, N.C.) scored in double figures.

Clark has led the Lady Eagles in each of the past three games, where she is averaging 15 points per game in that stretch. She leads the Lady Eagles in scoring average for conference play (13.4) and is the only Carson-Newman player averaging double-digit points against SAC foes.

Carson-Newman enters Saturday's action tied for third in the conference standings at 3-2, only one game back of Anderson for second place. The Trojans, picked to finish eighth in the conference, are off to a 4-1 start in SAC competition.

Anderson has won seven of its last nine games; with the most recent win on Wednesday night over Lincoln Memorial, 70-56. The Trojans are led in scoring by guard Alissa Diaz, who averaged 16.7 points per game and was a preseason All-SAC first team selection.

"Anderson has really good players," said Mincey. "Anderson throws a lot of different things at you, both defensively and offensively, so hopefully our kids are prepared and they stay focused on what we've tried to get them prepared for."

The Lady Eagles won both meetings last season, winning 60-42 in Anderson on Jan. 21 and 57-48 in Jefferson City on Feb. 18. Carson-Newman has a 5-2 edge over Anderson in the all-time series, as the schools have played seven times during the last 11 seasons.

Coverage Saturday's game is available on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network, beginning with the Farm Bureau Countdown to Tipoff at 1:45 p.m. and the broadcast is also available on www.cneagles.com.