WISE, Va. – Riding a three-game winning streak, the longest active string in the South Atlantic Conference, 12th-ranked Carson-Newman starts a five-day, three-game road trip Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. against UVA Wise.
Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Carson-Newman (10-1, 10-1) has averaged at least 78 points per game on the road combining to average 82 points in true road affairs. To put that into perspective, the Lady Eagles led the conference in scoring in 2016-17 at 80.7 points per game for the entire season. This year's team is less efficient from the floor but is making 76 percent at the line and yanking down 46 rebounds per game through five road affairs.
Since opening the year with two games scoring below 80 points, the Lady Eagles have scored at least 80 in six of the last eight outings with four games of at least 50 percent shooting from the field. In coach Mike Mincey's tenure, the program is 100-9 when scoring at least 80 points.
Wednesday's outing is the fifth meeting with UVA Wise (10-2, 9-2 SAC) with C-N winning each of the first four with wins of 34 and 21 at Mossy Creek. The Lady Eagles swept the season series a year ago thanks to a 100-79 win at home and an 83-70 victory in Virginia.
When the teams last met, the Lady Eagles secured a 20-win season as Kayla Marosites reset the program record for double-doubles in a season with the 22nd of her senior year. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) led four double-digit scorers for the Lady Eagles with 20 points on nine of 18 shooting adding seven assists and three steals.
�� 2⃣3⃣ points per game as a sophomore
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) February 9, 2021
�� Career-high 33 points at Wingate
➕ TSWA weekly honors for @B_Wykle pic.twitter.com/ILoxagfdKa
RISE ��@CNwbasketball moves up 1 slot in the @WBCA1981 poll. pic.twitter.com/vYVnk3F4th
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) February 9, 2021
UVa Wise turned the ball over 25 times in the game leading to 27 points for C-N on the day. The Lady Eagles shot 37 percent from the field and uncharacteristically went 5-for-26 from three, a season low for the nation's second-best long distance shooting team.
This contest will pit the two best offenses that the SAC has to offer with Wise ranking first in scoring (82.9) and assists per game (19.8) and second in field-goal percentage (45.1). The Lady Eagles are the most efficient team in the league at 47.3 percent ranking second in scoring (82.6) and assists (18.6).
"They have a lot of really good offensive players," Mincey said. "They get a lot of assists and they do a really good job in getting to the rim and have some good three-point shooters. When you can get to the rim, draw fouls and make shots the way they have this year, you can put a lot of points on the board."
Coach Jamie Cluesman's team was picked to finish ninth in the league after finishing its first year of SAC membership shorthanded with a roster filled with youth. The Cavaliers have produced their best start since 2016-17 when they opened 6-1 on their way to a 21-win season and a third-place finish in the Mountain East.
UVA Wise lost at Tusculum to start the season before rattling off 10 wins in a win before losing 79-66 at Anderson on Saturday putting an end to the longest winning streak in program history.
The Cavaliers have their seven-game home winning streak intact where the team is scoring 85 points per game at home and shooting 46 percent. Five of the seven victories have been by double figures with an average margin of victory of 20 points per game. Carson-Newman is the last team to win at the Prior Center doing so on Feb. 26, 2020, 83-70.
Kalee Johnson is the team's leading scorer ranking third in the conference with 16.2 points per game, one of three players on the roster to rank in the top 10 in scoring. Her seven double-doubles are the 10th most in the country as she adds nine rebounds per outing.
A pair of preseason All-SAC selections, Caitlyn Ross and Nia Vanzant, lead the way after All-Freshman team seasons last year. Ross finished 11th in the country in assists a year ago and is filling up the stat sheet this year to the tune of 14 points, five rebounds and six assists. Last year she scored 21 points and 24 points respectively in meetings with the Lady Eagles.
Meg Crawford, a transfer from Lees-McRae, scored in double figures in each of the first six games of the year but has posted 18 total points in her last four. She is second in the conference in shot blocks racking up 27 on the year.
Wednesday's affair can be enjoyed on two platforms. Radio coverage can be found on 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) with an audio stream available on cneagles.com/live starting at 5:15 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off".
- CN -
