JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With wins in five straight games, Carson-Newman steps out of conference play for the last time in 2022 hosting Emory & Henry for the first time in history on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. inside of Holt Fieldhouse.
"Falling into that trap game where you are thinking ahead about the big matchup on Saturday [against nationally-ranked Wingate], we can't get that fair ahead," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "We need to prepare for Emory & Henry and play a solid game against Emory & Henry on Wednesday. We want to have a cleaner performance. This is two games in a row where we got outrebounded. If you keep doing that throughout the year you aren't going to keep winning basketball games."
With wins in five straight home games, Carson-Newman (14-3) has scored at least 80 points in five of seven home affairs posting an average of 93 over the last three games since a season-low at home of 70 in a two-point win over Anderson on Dec. 5. The team has shot at least 60 percent in a quarter four times in that stretch.
The 80-point threshold is a key for the program this year as the Orange and Blue hold a 9-0 mark this year when scoring at least 80 and a 112-9 tally under Mincey. Conversely, the team is 4-3 this year and 97-85 record under the mentor when failing to hit 80 on the scoreboard. Conversely all three of the team's losses this year have come when the opponent scored 80 or more with the team's record sitting a 17-30 under Mincey.
While most of the record keeping has circulated around scoring this year with Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) and Addison Byrd (Nashville, Tenn.) joining the 1,000-point club, the eyes turn to the block ledger on Wednesday. Sydney Pearce (Johnson City, Tenn.) needs one rejection to become the seventh player in school history with 100 blocks for a career. The senior has swatted at least one shot in eight of the last 10 games.
In the year before the Wasps join the South Atlantic Conference, the unit has played teams from all three NCAA divisions and the NAIA ranks as a first-year member of Division II status. Among results that stand out, Emory & Henry (7-8) beat North Greenville on the road by 25 points on Jan. 4 but has been throttled by Lander, 103-40, and Lincoln Memorial, 80-38.
Entering Wednesday night, the team has won three of four games to open up 2022 falling 77-68 to Salem on Saturday. Interestingly, the club is 1-5 at home while holding an impressive 6-3 mark in road affairs. The numbers are nearly identical between the two with the Wasps shooting slightly better on the road.
Coach Jaclyn Dickens brought in 11 new players to help with the transition to Division II with 10 freshman on the roster and five total upperclassmen. However four of the top six scorers are either juniors or seniors.
Rookie Emma Santoro leads the team in scoring with 12 points per game and is coming on as of late with four double-digit scoring efforts in her last five after only two in the first seven this year. She is shooting 53 percent inside of the arc going 3-for-19 from long range.
One area that has plagued the Wasps this year is turnovers as the club has at least 20 in 10 games with a staggering 41 coming against Lander on Dec. 5 with the Bearcats converting that in 55 points in a 103-40 triumph. All told the team is posting 22 on average.
As a team, Emory & Henry is scoring 60 points per game and shooting 36 percent from the field which has led the Wasps to grabbing at least 10 offensive rebounds in 12 contests coming off of a season-high 21 on Saturday in an affair where they had a 58-47 lead on the glass.
Tune into the broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network starting at 5:15 p.m. 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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