Carson-Newman Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles basketball team (12-6, 6-5 South Atlantic Conference) will welcome the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (13-6, 8-3 South Atlantic Conference) to Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Lady Eagles fell to the Bears earlier this season, and have dropped two straight at home, losing to Tusculum 77-68 on Wednesday.

"I thought we played ok, one of our better offensive performances in the first half," said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey. "Certainly to score 68 points for the game was good, but Tusculum played really well."

Against Tusculum, the Lady Eagles were led in scoring by senior Nikki James (Cookeville, Tenn.) with her 16 points, 12 of those coming in the first half. She was joined in double-digit scoring by seniors Courdne Miles (Burlington, N.C.) and Whitney Moody (Blountville, Tenn.) who scored 10 and 11 points respectively.

Carson-Newman leads the overall series against Lenoir-Rhyne 36-24. The Bears have won the past seven of the last eight meetings against the Lady Eagles with the last victory for Carson-Newman coming in the 2010-11 season, with a 70-61 win at L-R on Jan. 17, 2011.

The Lady Eagles fell to Lenoir-Rhyne in the first meeting this season on Dec. 15, 2012 by a 72-59 score at Shuford Gymnasium. Freshman Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) led Carson-Newman in scoring with her 16 points and four three-pointers, while Lashawnda Peacher (Springfield, Tenn.) provided a spark off of the bench with 13 points and seven rebounds. Carson-Newman cut Lenoir-Rhyne's second half lead to four points with 4:16 left in the game before the Bears went on an 11-0 run to power to a 70-55 lead with 1:12 to go. Lenoir-Rhyne was led in scoring by Alexis Katt with her 13 points, and Kierra Phillips joined her in double-figures with her 12 points.

The Bears have lost two of their last three games, yet defeated Wingate 55-53 on Wednesday night in Hickory, N.C. Lenoir-Rhyne enters Saturday's game in a second-place tie with Newberry, while Carson-Newman is in a three-way fourth place tie.

"Lenoir-Rhyne is doing really well, they were competing with Anderson for the lead in the conference, and then they lost at home to Anderson and then they lost at home to Newberry," said Mincey. "Then they won a close game with Wingate Wednesday, so they're back on their winning ways and still right up there at the top. They are still fighting to potentially be a conference champion."

Coverage of the 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.