2020-21 Carson-Newman Women's Basketball Schedule
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In a year where nothing can be said for certain, the Carson-Newman women's basketball program released its 2020-21 schedule Thursday featuring 20 South Atlantic Conference contests and one exhibition road game at Liberty on Dec. 13.
As evidenced by what has happened around the sports landscape, things can change at any point in time based on the coronavirus outbreak. There is a possibility for the Lady Eagles to add non-conference games but the plan is to start the year on Nov. 21 at Coker for a 2 p.m. tip-off from the DeLoach Center.
"It's kind of a challenge this year to be honest," Mincey said. "Our school is not allowed to scrimmage outside competition until we take the floor against Coker on Nov. 21. With a small roster, we may only have 10 players in practice and they don't get a break. We haven't played an actual game in seven or eight months so I won't know what we look like until a game counts as a win or a loss."
The Orange and Blue open the year with their two longest road trips of the year following a visit to Cobra Country with a trek to Wingate on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Holt Fieldhouse gets its first taste of basketball, ending a 270-day drought without live events in the venue, on Nov. 28 against reigning regular-season champion Anderson. This tussle would have been the opening round matchup of the NCAA Tournament before the season was shut down due to the virus.
"Starting with myself, through coach Burstrom and to the team, I think it is important from a mental aspect to stay strong through this," Mincey said. "At any point in time things could change. It has been changing since March with rules and regulations. I have no doubt that in two weeks some more things may change. All we can do is put our head down and keep working and driving to become the best version of ourselves as a team.
"We know we have talent. We hope we can put all of that talent on the floor at the same time without sickness or injuries derailing us. I know frustration is going to set in not only for our team but for other teams as well if games are cancelled or can't be made up. We have a 20-game conference schedule and that's good because we have a lot of really good teams. We have lost some good players. Even though we may not be able to play out of conference opponents like we have in the past we are going to be challenged enough in our own conference to try to be successful."
Carson-Newman's lone non-conference game currently on the schedule is an exhibition game taking on the Liberty Flames in Lynchburg, Va. on Dec. 13 at 2 p.m., 24 hours after playing first-year SAC member Limestone. It will be the first time that the Lady Eagles and Flames will hit the hardwood against each other.
Liberty, members of the Atlantic Sun, wrapped up the 2019-20 season with a 20-11 overall record and as the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament was supposed to play top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast for the championship on March 15 before the season was shutdown.
"They contacted us and wanted to play," Mincey said. "The guarantee is good. Anytime you can go and play somebody from the Division I ranks that is maybe a little bit more athletic, maybe a little bit bigger, I think it is a good challenge for our kids. It's coming in a back-to-back format where we play Limestone on the Dec. 12 and have to travel to Lynchburg on Dec. 13. We are up to the challenge to try to go up there and compete and put our best foot forward."
As it stands, that contest would be the final one before the Christmas break giving the club 24 days between games before opening a new year against the two teams in the league that earned trophies last year on the road. Tusculum, the tournament champions, is the first game back from break on Jan. 6.
Following a visit to Anderson, C-N gets its longest homestand of the year taking on Catawba, Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate over a 10-day period.
The Lady Eagles play four of their next five games on the road before wrapping up the year with three of the final four outings at home closing the campaign the way it started with a game against Coker, this time at Mossy Creek on Feb. 27 at 2 p.m.
All road games can be heard on Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM with coverage starting 15 minutes prior to tip-off on the Eagle Sports Network with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off". Each home contest will also feature a live video stream available on cneagles.com/live.
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