Carson-Newman Game Notes - Lees McRae

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles women's basketball team will begin its 2013-14 regular season by facing the Lees-McRae Bobcats in the South Atlantic Conference-Confrence Carolinas Challenge at Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Carson-Newman's first weekend of regular season play will also feature a Sunday afternoon game against Barton, the team picked to win the Conference Carolinas, at 3 p.m.

"Now that we're getting back to our level of basketball, I think everyone on our team and certainly our staff are excited to get back to Division II basketball and play people that are a little more our size," said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey.

Carson-Newman lost both of their exhibition games, falling at No. 11 North Carolina 111-50 on Oct. 30, and most recently a 115-31 loss at No. 4 Tennessee last Monday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Lady Eagles were picked to finish fifth in the preseason SAC coaches poll, with sophomore guard Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.), named to the Preseason All-SAC Second Team.

Lees-McRae was picked to finish eighth in the Conference Carolinas preseason coaches poll, and are led by head coach Michele Williams.

"We're not looking past Lees-McRae," Mincey said. "We know that in some common opponents that they had with us last year, they beat them worse than we did. If we don't come ready to play, Lees-McRae will put it to us."

Carson-Newman is one of the host schools for this year's SAC-Conference Carolinas Challenge, as the Lady Eagles welcome fellow SAC member Lenoir-Rhyne along with Conference Carolinas schools Lees-McRae and Barton. On Saturday, Lenoir-Rhyne, picked to finish second in the SAC in the preseason coaches poll, will face Barton, picked to win Conference Carolinas, at 5 p.m., inside Holt Fieldhouse.

Carson-Newman will finish the night's play by hosting Lees-McRae for the regular season opener at 7 p.m. Sunday's action will feature Lees-McRae against Lenoir-Rhyne at 1 p.m., with Carson-Newman facing Barton at 3 p.m. to end the weekend's action.

Video coverage of all games in the SAC-Conference Carolinas Challenge at Carson-Newman will be available on www.cneagles.com, and Carson-Newman's games will also be carried on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station WPFT-FM 106.3 FM, with Saturday's coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. with "The Countdown to Tipoff."