HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Monday will be a familiar experience for 12th-ranked Carson-Newman hitting the road for fifth time in 15 days making its longest trek of the season to face Coker in South Atlantic Conference action from the DeLoach Center at 2 p.m.
The Lady Eagles are 7-1 on Mondays under Mincey with the lone loss coming in the Elite Eight to Union in 2018. Four of the seven victories have come by double figures with an average margin of 14. Mincey's first career head coaching win came on a Monday, a 103-67 dismantling of Bryan on Nov. 21, 2011.
Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) has entered rarefied air with 20-point scoring efforts in six straight games. Since 2002 no player has scored 20-plus points in seven in a row as the sophomore has tied an All-American. Haris Price registered a string of six straight during her senior year from Feb. 2-20, 2019 that included a 44-point night at Lenoir-Rhyne. During this six-game sequence, the all-region pick is averaging 24.5 points (147 total), shooting 49 percent from the floor (50-for-102), 50 percent from long distance (19-for-38) and 88 percent at the free-throw line (28-for-32).
Monday marks the 16th meeting between C-N and Coker (6-9, 6-8) as Mincey's crew has a commanding 13-2 lead with wins in each of the last 10 outings. The average differential in that span has been just south of 30 points per game with a trio of 100-point efforts and eight with at least 80.
Coker's last win over the Lady Eagles came on Jan. 17, 2015 in Hartsville, a 68-61 win. While C-N's first road win after that was a seven-point game, Mincey's club has won by 38, 39, 26 and 19 in its last four visits to the DeLoach Center.
Last season when the Orange and Blue visited the Palmetto State it was a defensive effort with the Lady Eagles winning 63-44. The Cobras scored a grand total of three points in the second quarter missing all 11 of their field goals. They scored a grand total of 10 points in the second and third periods going 2-for-24 from the floor.
Entering the contest, Coker has won back-to-back games for the second time this year beating Queens and Mars Hill by eight points each. The team has been significantly better at home this year going 5-3 with wins in four of the last five versus a 1-6 mark on the road.
The Cobras are one of the best in the country at getting to the free-throw line with 338 attempts on the year, good for 10th in the country. There have been 10 occasions with at least 20 attempts at the stripe. However, the team does not take advantage shooting 66 percent as a team, 11th in the SAC. Improvement is evident with the team making 85 percent, 35-for-41, in the last three.
Offensively Coker is 10th in the league in scoring at 66 points per night and 12th in efficiency making just 37 percent from the field. The club commits 18 turnovers per game, the third-most among conference units.
Only one player is posting double figures on a nightly basis in Ahlea Myers with seven double-digit scoring efforts this year. She is shooting 35 percent from the field though and only make 30 percent through seven home games.
The Cobras have one of the worst scoring margins in the country being outscored by seven on average with six losses by double figures on the year. Opponents are netting 73 points per game and shooting 40 percent from the field.
Monday'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 1:45 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off".
- CN -
