C-N Women's Basketball Game Notes
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman's first true road game of the 2016-17 season comes Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. against back-to-back Peach Belt regular season champion Columbus State at the Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center.
The Lady Eagles are coming off of a three-point overtime loss to Lincoln Memorial giving up 100 points for the first time in nine seasons. Only three teams have given up more points per game in Division II this season as C-N has allowed 79.8 so far this year.
"We have to get back to work," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said following the loss to Lincoln Memorial. "We have to watch the film and see if there is anything we can improve on which I know there is. It doesn't get any easier for us but that's the way we like it. We like playing quality people."
Sunday is the first time that C-N has played in the state of Georgia since Nov. 16, 2012 when the Lady Eagles defeated North Georgia 78-66 in Dahlonega. Shyra Brown had 13 points and 11 rebounds while current assistant coach Tatum Burstrom tallied 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting during her freshman season.
Carson-Newman (2-2) and Columbus State (2-0) are meeting on the hardwood for the 11th time as the Cougars hold a tight 6-4 edge in the all-time series. It is the first meeting at Columbus State since Dec. 11, 2011 when CSU won 68-61.
The Lady Eagles last victory on the road in the series came on Nov. 28, 2009, a 68-64 victory. Mandy Mendenhall finished with a game-high 21 points and hit a runner with 16 seconds to put C-N ahead by two.
During the 2015-16 season, the two sides met at Holt Fieldhouse on Nov. 21 as C-N toppled sixth-ranked CSU 70-68 thanks to two foul shots from Katie Stubblefield with 3.4 seconds to play to overcome a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter. It was the first win for Carson-Newman over a top-10 ranked team since January 17, 2009 when the Lady Eagles defeated fifth-ranked Tusculum 90-87 at Holt Fieldhouse.
In the preseason Peach Belt Conference Coaches' Poll, the Cougars were picked to finish fourth with one first-place vote while entering the year as back-to-back conference champions while averaging 25 wins per season over the last three years.
The biggest gap for CSU is the graduation of two-time WBCA All-American Michelle Mitchell. The two-time PBC Player of the Year ranks Mitchell also ranks third in program history with 1,274 points, fifth with a 47.7 percent field-goal percentage and sixth with eight rebounds per game.
The Cougars enter this season under first year coach Anita Howard who comes over from Livingstone College, a Division II school in Salisbury, N.C. The Blue Bears were 41-14 under Howard while going 26-2 in 2014-15 and winning an HBCU-record 23 straight games.
Columbus State has played two regular season games this season both coming in the PBC/SIAC Challenge. The Cougars defeated Albany State 80-56 and Fort Valley State 76-53.
Ashley Asouzu is a preseason All-PBC selection to lead a group of three returning starters from last season. She averaged 10.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game a year ago and is averaging 10 points and 10 boards so far this year.
No team in the nation has forced more turnovers to this point in the year forcing on average 32 per night thanks to 16 steals per game while yielding 24.8 percent shooting from its foes and pulling down 25 offensive rebounds per night, tops in the nation.
The opening tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the Eagle Sports Network will be on the air at 1:45 p.m. with the Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off on Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM and cneagles.com/live.
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