INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA released its re-seeds and Elite Eight pairings Wednesday afternoon as Carson-Newman was placed as the No. 2 seed and will challenge seventh-seeded Union on Monday, March 19 at 3:30 p.m. EST in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Third-seeded Lubbock Christian and sixth-seeded Central Missouri open the days play at 1 p.m. The No. 1 team in the country and defending national champions, Ashland, play eighth-seeded Montana State Billings at 7 p.m. The four versus five game is Stonehill and Indiana (Pa.) at 9:30 p.m.
Carson-Newman matched a program record with its 32nd win of the season on Monday night to win its first-ever Southeast Region Championship. The Lady Eagles hold the third-highest scoring offense (91.5), second-best scoring margin (plus-24.3) and second-best assists per game tally (20.2) in America this year.
Coach Mike Mincey's team owns South Atlantic Conference records for wins (32), scoring average (91.5), total points scored (3,110) and total assists (687).
Selfie game level = ������@MikeMincey @CNwbasketball pic.twitter.com/8Q1ZTWveVQ
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) March 13, 2018
The two programs have played five times with C-N holding the upper hand in each meeting. All of the matchups came when the schools were members of the NAIA with the most recent outing coming on Dec. 3, 1993 when the Lady Eagles won 68-66 at Union.
Union won the South Regional as the top seed and was ranked 14th in the last WBCA poll of the year. After winning the first two games by double digits, the Bulldogs used two Chelsey Shumpert foul shots with five seconds left to beat seventh-seeded Valdosta State 74-73 on Monday night.
Shumpert ranks fourth in the country in scoring at 24.1 points per game and set the Gulf South Conference's scoring record in the region title game. The graduate student has made 104 triples, the third-most in the country on the year.
As a team, Union is the stingiest team in the nation turning the ball over just 10.9 times per game on the year. Only Glenville State has made more three-pointers than the 341 by the Bulldogs on the year. As an offense, Union posts 80 points per game, ninth in Division II, and is 13th in field-goal percentage.
On the glass, only 12 teams average fewer offensive rebounds per game than Union's nine as the team registered fewer rebounds than its opponents on the year.
Three teams have won a national championship in the final eight with Ashland winning twice and Central Missouri and Lubbock Christian holding a trophy.
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