LILBURN, Ga. – After being named the preseason favorites in the South Atlantic Conference, Carson-Newman was the only league unit to be nationally ranked entering the 2021-22 season coming in at No. 21 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll released on Tuesday.
The Lady Eagles are one of the four teams in the region that earned recognition with Lander at third, North Georgia at sixth and the reigning Southeast Region titleholders, Belmont Abbey, tying for No. 25. Barton received 41 votes and Tusculum secured 23.
No member of the SAC has been ranked more than Carson-Newman as the Lady Eagles have been in the poll for 62 weeks including 23 in the top 10 and 13 in the top five. Coach Mike Mincey's team was ranked fifth at the end of the 2017-18 season marking the highest end of season mark in conference history. Limestone was ranked for 60 weeks as members of Conference Carolinas. Wingate is the next closest SAC program with 58 weeks, Anderson has 45 and Tusculum is at 31.
In Mincey's tenure, the school has been ranked for 40 weeks holding a 47-14 record when playing as a top 25 club. Last year, the Orange and Blue were a top 25 for every week of the regular season peaking at No. 11 in the WBCA poll on Feb. 16 and March 2 before ending the campaign ranked 24th.
Carson-Newman has had success playing against ranked units as well with a 15-10 record against top 25 schools beating then seventh-ranked Tusculum on the road on Jan. 20, 2021, its first road win against a top 10 team since 2008.
During a regular-season championship campaign in 2020-21, the Lady Eagles held a lead for 570 minutes out of the 770 total minutes of play holding a double-digit lead in 16 of the 19 games ranking 28th in the country in scoring margin at plus-11. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, the program has held a double-digit lead in 80 percent of games.
The Lady Eagles return all five of their starters, four all-conference performers and have three players listed on a preseason All-SAC clubs led by All-American and SAC Player of the Year Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) and first-team selection Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) forming one of the best inside-out combinations in America.
It will be a primetime matchup to open the season with the Lady Eagles clashing with third-ranked Lander at 6:30 p.m. from Hickory, N.C. on Nov. 13. Broadcast coverage starts at 6:15 p.m. on 106.3 WPFT-FM and cneagles.com/live with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" on the Eagle Sports Network.
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