Carson-Newman Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles basketball team (13-9, 7-8 South Atlantic Conference) will welcome the Anderson Trojans (18-7, 12-3 South Atlantic Conference) to Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Carson-Newman has lost four of its last five games, however the Lady Eagles have played winning basketball at home this season, going 7-3 in games played at Holt Fieldhouse.

"Hopefully our kids will show up and know that they're playing a really good basketball team and a team that beat us at their place by double figures," said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey. "Hopefully everybody will show up and certainly to take down the best team in our league would be something that could give us some confidence as we head down the stretch here with three games to go."

Carson-Newman is coming off an overtime loss at Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday night, falling to the Lady Railsplitters 64-62. The Lady Eagles led at halftime 28-21, before the Lady Railsplitters rallied back to even the score at 53 at the end of regulation. Lincoln Memorial outscored Carson-Newman 11-9 in overtime to pick up the two-point victory.

Carson-Newman was led in scoring once again by freshman Tatum Burstom (Maryville, Tenn.) with her 12 points, and she was joined in double figures by senior Nikki James (Cookeville, Tenn.) with her 10 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Jai Jai McLaughlin (Knoxville, Tenn.) nearly collected a double-double with her nine points and nine rebounds. Burstrom has led Carson-Newman in scoring each of the past three games, and she now leads the Lady Eagles in scoring by averaging 11 points per contest.

Carson-Newman fell in the first matchup at Anderson 60-46 on Jan. 19. The Lady Eagles and Trojans were tied at 32 with 13:40 to play before Anderson went on a 17-2 run over the next seven minutes to put the game out of reach. Carson-Newman was led in scoring for the fourth consecutive game by junior Shyra Clark (Cleveland, Tenn.) as she scored 14 points, and was joined in double-digit scoring once again by Courdne Miles (Burlington, N.C.) with her 11 points and four rebounds.

Carson-Newman leads the series with Anderson 5-3, meeting eight times over the past 12 seasons. C-N has won three of the past four meetings.

Anderson continues to lead the South Atlantic Conference with a 12-3 mark in conference play, and is led in scoring by guard Alissa Diaz who averages 17.2 points per game and is second in the league in scoring.

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.