JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Seeking redemption after being bounced in the first round of the 2019 South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Championships, second-seeded Carson-Newman opens the 2020 tournament with seventh-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne Wednesday night at 7 p.m. from Holt Fieldhouse.
"I think we are doing what we need to be doing this time of year," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "I don't think last year our mindset was right coming into the tournament. This year, we are heading in a better direction going into the SAC Tournament. Being able to host again is real critical. We just need to put together a better performance that we did last year and get back to Furman."
Carson-Newman (21-7) is 26-27 all-time in the SAC Women's Basketball Championships with two titles in 2005 and 2018 appearing in six championship games in 1995, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2007 and 2018. No. 2 seeds are the third-most successful when it comes to winning titles behind No. 1 (13) and No. 3 (eight) with the top seed winning each of the last two.
The Lady Eagles are one of four teams along with Lenoir-Rhyne (16-10), Catawba and Wingate to participate in each SAC Tournament since the first iteration in 1991 while hosting for the 19th time in 30 years. C-N is 16-3 and had won 10 straight home opening round contests until dropping an 80-77 overtime contest last season to sixth-seeded Lincoln Memorial.
This season is the seventh time that the Orange and Blue enter the league championships as the second seed accumulating an 8-5 record hoisting the crown in 2005 from the second slot. The last time the school was in this position it beat the Bears 70-58 in the first round before being bounced 76-59 by Tusculum in the semifinals.
Historically, No. 2 seeds are responsible for five titles (1999, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2014) most recently when Wingate did so in 2014 beating Newberry, Anderson and L-R. By round, second seeds are 24-5 in the first round, 13-11 in the semifinals and 5-8 in the title game. A No. 7 seed has taken down the two seed twice in the last five years with Catawba's 70-64 win over Anderson in 2017 being the last time.
C-N and Lenoir-Rhyne have squared off 76 times with the Lady Eagles winning 47 including each of the last three contests. Wednesday is the 13th time the two programs duel in the league tournament with C-N holding an 8-4 lead. A win on Wednesday would be the third of the season for Mincey's crew, marking the fifth time in series history the Lady Eagles have done that.
The last time the teams met in the postseason was 2018 when the Lady Eagles opened their tournament title run with a 75-63 win in the opening round at Holt Fieldhouse. C-N posted its worst shooting performance in nearly two years at 37 percent winning 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists from Haris Price.
Carson-Newman has controlled both meetings this year winning by 22 in Hickory and 36 on Feb. 12 at Mossy Creek. The first quarter has set the stage for the Lady Eagles. In the two meetings, C-N is outscoring L-R 65-26 shooting a scorching 63 percent from the field and making 11 of 14 from deep compared to 29 percent shooting one of nine from long range by the Bears.
"Anytime you are facing somebody for the third time especially in tournament play you never know what they are going to throw at you," Mincey said. "We will be prepared for all different kinds of scenarios. In general, it doesn't matter what is thrown at you. It's still a 40-minute game. If you shoot a high percentage, put the ball in the bucket, rebound and limit your turnovers, you are going to have a chance of winning."
The Bears closed our February with just three wins in nine games but the last three losses have come by a total of 11 points. After taking a step forward in January, the team posted 63 points per game, down from 70 in January, and 38 rebounds, down from 45.
Road games have provided a speed bump all year long with the team going 3-11 away from Hickory dropping each of the last three. The Bears have only one road win in 2020 beating Mars Hill 82-58 on Jan. 22. Lenoir-Rhyne has shot below 40 percent from the field in nine road games and converts 25 percent from three.
Coach Cameron Sealey has been without leading scorer Madeline Hardy since she exited six minutes into a four-point loss to Tusculum on Jan. 29. Kennedy Weigt has been carrying the load with seven double-digit scoring efforts in the nine games since Hardy's injury. Weigt is averaging a dozen by making 31 percent from the field and 26 percent from deep going 10-for-40 over her last six.
Karlie Bearden has started to surge at the end of her career averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds in February. After scoring in double figures three times in the first 16 games of the year she has been in double digits in 10 of the last 12 with six double-doubles in that stretch.
Fans can enjoy a night of basketball for free on the Eagle Sports Network. If residents of the Lakeway region want to kick back to listen to the radio they can flip on Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM. For those outside of the area, a high definition video stream and an audio option is available on cneagles.com/live beginning at 5:15 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off".
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