Trojans traipse through the mountains for Wednesday clash

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Posted: Jan 17, 2017

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Having won four of its last five contests Carson-Newman hosts Anderson (S.C.) in South Atlantic Conference action Wednesday night at 6 p.m. inside of Holt Fieldhouse attempting to hand the Trojans their first road loss of the 2016-17 campaign.

Carson-Newman (10-6, 7-3) has played the 13th most difficult schedule in Division II this season as opponents have combined for a 349-236 record, .597 winning percentage. The next closest team in the league is Wingate's .564 opponent's winning percentage to rank 40th.

Carson-Newman broke a tie in the all-time series with a season sweep of Anderson (11-3, 8-2) a season ago to hold a 9-7 edge thanks to a pair of victories that totaled five points in 2015-16.

The Lady Eagles beat the Trojans twice when AU was nationally ranked including an 81-79 overtime win on Feb. 10, 2016. Jai Jai McLaughlin made a layup with 0.3 seconds remaining in regulation to force extra time after C-N did not hold a lead during the second half. Heather Jankowy missed the second of three foul shots with 0.5 seconds to play in the extra session as the Lady Eagles prevailed by a deuce.

The two-time defending league champions were slated for a second-place finish while picking up the final three first-place votes in the preseason poll. Coach Jimmy Garrity moved onto Wofford leaving the reigns to Jonathon Barbaree.

Anderson is 7-0 on the road this season with its last loss away from home coming on Feb. 27, 2016 at Wingate falling 73-62. Overall, the Trojans enter Holt Fieldhouse having won four of their last five outings.

Barbaree's group is one of the best defensive teams in the nation ranking 17th in field-goal percentage defense (34.3) and 27th in three-point percentage defense (26.3) while ranking third in the SAC in scoring defense yielding 59.5 points per night. The Trojans have given up more than 75 points twice this year (84 v. Clayton State on Nov. 11 and 77 v. Catawba on Dec. 17).

"We are in our home gym," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "The lowest total we scored in regulation is 71. We are scoring the ball really well. I think we lead the conference in field-goal percentage. I think we are right there with LMU in three-point percentage. They are just playing really hard nose defense. They have some really athletic players on the perimeter that guard the ball really hard. They can guard post play too."

At the other end of the floor, Anderson is fourth in the league in field-goal percentage (41.7) but is turning the ball over 18.3 times per night ranking 8th in the conference. The unit gets to the free-throw line on average 20 times per evening to rank eighth and are converting just 67 percent when they get there, seventh in the SAC.

The Trojans have three seniors on the preseason all-conference team led by first-team pick Heather Jankowy as Alexis Dillard and Jasmine Franklin were on the second team. Anderson will have to replace the conference Player of the Year from last season in Jennifer Monroe. Dillard has missed the last 12 games and has not played since Nov. 16, 2016.

This season Jankowy is the team's leading scorer ranking 17th in the league averaging 11.1 points per game while averaging 32.5 minutes per night. The senior is fourth in the conference in three-point percentage at 38 percent and fifth in triples made with 30.

The team has organized a giveaway that the first 200 students in attendance will receive a free t-shirt and are encouraging all fans to wear white in an attempt of a white out at Mossy Creek.

Broadcast coverage of the event is on 106.3 WPFT-FM in the Lakeway Region and with video and audio channels found on cneagles.com/live beginning 15 minutes before the game with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on the Eagle Sports Network.

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