Carson-Newman Women's Basketball Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Winners of four straight to begin the 2015-16 season, Carson-Newman travels to Harrogate, Tenn. to take on Lincoln Memorial Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. looking for its first win on the road against the Railsplitters (1-2) since January 25, 2012.

The Lady Eagles (4-0) have lost in overtime twice during the three-game losing streak in Harrogate with the last win for the team being a 74-72 victory. Last season Carson-Newman scored four points in the final 24 seconds of regulation to send the game to an extra session. The Lady Eagles held a three-point lead with 2:38 to play but Lincoln Memorial reeled off 12 of the next 16 to seize control of the game.

Carson-Newman is looking to avoid a letdown after defeating sixth-ranked Columbus State at Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday. The Lady Eagles pulled the upset against the Cougars marking the first win against a top-10 team since January 17, 2009 when the Lady Eagles defeated fifth-ranked Tusculum 90-87 at Holt Fieldhouse.

"We can talk about it but it's not something that we will look at," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "The win is there. Nobody can take it away from us. We have business ahead at LMU. We know that LMU probably feels like they should be 3-0 instead of 1-2. We are not an intimidating team. If we don't come up there ready to play they may knock us off."

LMU has lost three of its top six scorers from last season including Aisjah Lee. Lee had 27 on 11-for-16 shooting from the floor in the overtime victory last season.

Last season Lincoln Memorial was nearly unbeatable at home posting an 11-3 mark at home. The Railsplitters have won six straight games at Tex Turner Arena with their last loss inside of the friendly confines coming on January 7, 2015, an 82-76 decision to Anderson.

Lincoln Memorial has averaged 27 turnovers per game this season including a 36-turnover game against Lander to start the season. The Railsplitters lost to the Bearcats by two points and have had at least 21 giveaways in each of the first three games of the year.

"With our full court press we use it when we need to," Mincey said. "We are not going to rely on it as much this year because it seems to be helping us out on the offensive end by not wearing our players down by chasing people all over the court. LMU has turned it over a little bit and a lot of it has happened in the half court, getting careless with the ball."

Lincoln Memorial enters the game leading the SAC in rebound margin at plus 15.7 picking up a season-high 57 rebounds and a plus 31 margin on the glass in a victory over Lees-McRae on November 18.

Defensively Lincoln Memorial has not allowed an opponent to shoot above 40 percent this season. Opponents are shooting 29 percent on the year against the Railsplitter defense converting just 15 of 52 attempts.

Josey Harding leads the Railsplitters this season in scoring averaging 13.3 points per game. She tossed in 22 points in the second game of the year after collecting 17 rebounds in the season opener.

The game will be broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM and by visiting cneagles.com/live 15 minutes prior to the opening tip-off.

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