JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With seven teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last year on the docket, Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey released the 2022-23 schedule Tuesday afternoon with 16 of the 28 affairs away from Mossy Creek.
After not having an exhibition game for the first time since 2003 last season, the Lady Eagles with start the year with a visit to Rocky Top to take on the Lady Vols on Oct. 30. It is the first time since 2019 that C-N faces Tennessee after a string of 16 straight seasons clashing with one of the premier women's programs in the country.
Mincey's crew spends almost the entirety of November playing in three different tournaments starting with the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Crossover played in Aiken, S.C. on Nov. 11-12 starting with a matchup against Lander, a Sweet 16 team from last year before playing USC Aiken.
One week later the unit hits the road to the site of the 2022 NCAA Southeast Regional to take on Clayton State and North Georgia with tip times at 4 p.m. in the North Georgia Invitational.
Prior to Thanksgiving, Carson-Newman leaves the comforts of the Southeast travelling to Detroit to take on Wayne State, the No. 7 seed in the Midwest, on its campus and Saginaw Valley State. It is the first time that the program travels north for contests since Dec. 2014 when it played Trevecca Nazerene and Kentucky Wesleyan prior to Christmas in Owensboro, Ky.
Five of the final seven contests of the calendar year starting with the doors opening to Holt Fieldhouse on Nov. 28 against Catawba, the fourth contest against an NCAA Tournament team from a year ago in the first month of the year.
"We should get a good one," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "It made it real difficult this year with divisional play having to find 10 non-conference games was a real chore. I think I had to work as hard this year on scheduling as I ever had to. The Aiken/Lander tournament was contracted in for four years and we have been doing that for quite a while. We like going to North Georgia. Clayton was right on the bubble. We go to Detroit to see Wayne State and Saginaw Valley. Don't know a whole lot about them but know it's going to be a real challenge. I'm sure they play a different kind of basketball with how physical and how tough they'll be."
To open up December, North Georgia makes a return visit to Holt Fieldhouse on Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. in a rematch of the Round of 32 matchup between the clubs from last year against a Nighthawks team that reached the Final Four in 2022.
The Orange and Blue open up league action with a road trip to Limestone on Dec. 7 at 5:30 p.m. before hosting UVA Wise and Mars Hill. Two days after a trip to Emory & Henry, the Lady Eagles host King before shutting down for the year.
"Having 10 non-conference games, getting home games was really difficult," Mincey said. "We are going to have to be road warriors. Over the past five years we have fared really well on the road. Our kids have done a good job going on the road an taking care of business. If we have any chance of going back to another NCAA Tournament we are certainly going to have to be road warriors this year. Hopefully we have a good mentality that we can take care of business on the road."
Carson-Newman opens up 2023 with a visit to Belmont Abbey at 2 p.m. on Jan. 3 in the final non-conference tuneup for the year. While three of the next four at home, five of the next seven are on the road capped by a visit to Wingate on Feb. 18 in a rematch of the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Eagles close out the campaign with home matchups with Emory & Henry and Coker, one of the four times the club plays back-to-back home games marking the longest homestands of the year.
Regional tournaments will take place from March 10-13 after the selection show on NCAA.com on the night of March 5. This year's final destination is in Dallas with the National Championship game being played on April 1 at the American Airlines Center.
All road games can be heard on Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM with coverage starting 15 minutes prior to tip-off on the Eagle Sports Network with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off". Each contest during the year can also be seen through FloSports with a subscription.
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