JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With nine games remaining on the South Atlantic Conference slate, Carson-Newman controls its own destiny for regular-season title but faces one of its toughest test left on the docket Saturday at Holt Fieldhouse hosting 20th-ranked Anderson at 2 p.m.
The Lady Eagles start February one game behind first-place Catawba and Anderson but host both teams over the next two weeks while travelling to Tusculum, the club the Orange and Blue are deadlocked with on the league table.
"We have been talking about it since we gave up that game at home to Tusculum," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "We knew what was at stake because we knew what was ahead of us. With Catawba losing at Newberry, it has opened the door up for Anderson, us and Tusculum. With nine games left in the regular season, you can't ask for anything more. You never want anything given to you. You want to be able to earn that right to be called a champion. This thing may play out all the way until the last game of the season."
Since losing to Tusculum on Jan. 15, Carson-Newman (14-5, 10-3) has posted a four-game winning streak where the club has led by at least 20 in each game and for a total of 151:44 of 160 minutes. Mincey's crew has trailed for a total of 3:51 having not been behind in the last 55:49 since trailing UVa-Wise 9-6 in the first quarter on Jan. 22.
The Lady Eagles have had success despite their leading scorer, Kayla Marosites (Elizabethton, Tenn.), being held under her average in each game. Over the last four, the senior is posting 13 points per game shooting 34 percent from the field and 21 percent from deep. Despite the offensive struggles, she has led the team in rebounding in 13 consecutive games, steals in six straight and blocks in five in a row.
Saturday is the fifth time this year that C-N is playing a top 25 team but the first time playing a ranked club at home. Under Mincey, the program is 14-9 overall and 7-1 at home against top 25 teams. The lone blemish in that stretch came against 24th-ranked Anderson (16-3, 11-2) on Jan. 9, 2019.
In the first four contests against nationally-ranked foes, C-N has held an advantage for at least 11 minutes in each of the four outings and for a total of 87:56 of 160 possible minutes.
Only one other team has been a better three-point shooting team in the country this year. Carson-Newman's 212 triples are behind Glenville State's 229 for the nation's lead as the team has posted 12 games with at least 10. That mark is just shy of the 2017-18 team that set the school record for threes in a season with 315 for most such games in a year when that team posted 15. The Lady Eagles have posted a school-record four straight games with at least 10 making 53 shooting 41 percent.
Saturday is the 25th meeting between the two programs with the Lady Eagles holding a 13-11 edge thanks to a 9-4 mark at home. This rendition is the sixth time that Anderson enters as a ranked club holding a 3-2 mark. C-N has dropped three straight since winning twice in 2015-16. This is the fourth straight affair where the Lady Eagles have lost by a total of 15 points.
When the two teams met in the Palmetto State on Dec. 7, Anderson pulled out a 77-74 win thanks to a 6-0 run that broke a 67-67 tie with 3:55 to play. Alexy Mollenhauer, Taylor Hair and McKenzie Gadson combined for 48 points to spoil a game where Marosites went for 23 points and 14 boards.
"They're really solid," Mincey said. "I think they are one of the more complete teams in the league because they have the inside and outside punch. We do have some inside punch but we are a little bit smaller. Our thing right now and what we have hung our hat on is that we have shot the ball well. Our defense has picked up and we have played much better on the defensive end of the floor."
While the Trojans are one of 33 teams to post an undefeated home record at 11-0, coach Jonathon Barbaree's team is 5-3 on the road. The team is averaging nearly six points fewer on the road shooting 39 percent from the field and 30 percent from the three-point line. In five of the eight contests, the club has shot below 40 percent.
Mollenhauer, the reigning SAC Player of the Year, has put herself in position to repeat leading the league in six categories including scoring (20), and three-pointers made (54). While she averages 17 points per game on the road, she shoots 15 percent worse from the field and 20 percent worse from three-point range at 41 and 33 respectively on the road.
No player on the roster averages more than nine points other than Mollenhauer. If you take the senior out of the equation, the rest of the unit registers 52 points per game while shooting 40 percent overall and 31 from beyond the arc.
As a team, the Trojans lead the league in 11 different categories and are in the top 10 nationally in seven. Anderson is third in the nation in rebound margin at plus-13 averaging 48 per game while placing ninth in the country in field-goal percentage defense at 33 percent.
On the flip side, the unit has attempted the fewest foul shots in the league with 283 but have converted at a 71 percent clip once they get there, fourth in the league. Anderson forces the fewest turnovers in the conference ranking 270th with under 14 per game.
Tune into the broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network starting at 1:45 for "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) with audio and video streams available on cneagles.com/live free of charge.
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