VIDEO: Cinematic Highlights at Clayton State
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Returning to Holt Fieldhouse on Saturday at 2 p.m. for South Atlantic Conference action, 19th-ranked Carson-Newman hosts Wingate in a tussle between the top two shooting units in the league.
"They are obviously playing very well on the offensive end and have picked up some very nice wins of late," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "They have the players to do it and the players that can shoot a high field-goal percentage. They have size inside. Wingate is always a tough challenge and we will try to do our best from a defensive standpoint."
Hustle continues to pay off for the Lady Eagles with the team outscoring foes by 39 points this year on second-chance points and by 69 in points off of turnovers. Ninety of the team's 220 rebounds, 41 percent, have been on the offensive end and have collected the board on 47 percent of its missed shots.
After trailing by as many as 16 points and for 39:11 of the first game of the year against No. 3 Lander, Carson-Newman has not trailed by more than five points and held the led for 140:23 of the last 160 minutes during a four-game winning streak.
The Lady Eagles have won three in a row by at least 20 points after posting a trio of games with that big of a differential in the first 42 years of the series winning by 26 and 21 over Wingate (4-1, 3-0) during the 2020-21 season. Saturday is the 80th meeting with the Bulldogs holding a 44-35 but the Orange and Blue are on their longest winning streak in the series since their longest tally of six from 2009-11.
Last season, C-N shot 54 percent at Holt Fieldhouse scoring 105 points, the first time it had hit the century mark against Wingate in history. In a return visit to Cuddy Arena two weeks later, the Lady Eagles buried a dozen triples, one shy of a season high in a wire-to-wire triumph.
Wingate, winners of four straight, is coming off of two straight uncharacteristic seasons where the team went a combined 27-23 after six straight 20-win campaigns advancing to four regional semifinals. The team has won four straight since losing by four points to Francis Marion to open up the year.
Coach Ann Hancock's team is one of the most efficient teams in the country making 50 percent from the field with five regulars making at least half of their shots. The team's leading scorer, Bryana Troutman, paces the unit making 60 percent from the field posting 15 points per game scoring a season-high 26 points in 28 minutes in an overtime win over Lenoir-Rhyne on Nov. 17.
The Bulldogs are a much improved long range shooting team ranking fifth in the league with seven triples per game ranking ninth in the country with 41 percent shooting from deep. Lauren Sullivan leads the group with 11 shooting 41 percent to rank fourth in the SAC.
While the team is elite offensively, it ranks 12th in the league in field-goal percentage defense giving up 41 percent through five outings. However that tally is buoyed by Francis Marion shooting 55 percent as three of the last four foes have shot 36 percent or worse.
Despite ranking 10th in the conference with 37 rebounds per game, Wingate has the third-best rebounding margin at plus-seven having won the battle of the boards in every game this year including a season-high plus-15 over Newberry on Tuesday.
Tune into the broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network starting at 1:45 for "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) with audio and video streams available on cneagles.com/live free of charge.
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