DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Continuing its early season road swing, ninth-ranked Carson-Newman travels to the UNG Convocation Center to take on Clayton State on Friday at 4 p.m. and No.18/4 North Georgia on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the UNG Nighthawk Classic.
"It's going to be a tough weekend ahead of us," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "Clayton and North Georgia are really good teams. We are on the road again. I think it's just continue to work on that depth and find the confidence. That's what we are looking for. I obviously have confidence with the starting group. We have to figure out how we are going to go with our big once we go past Lindsey [Taylor]. How can I work certain players into the game? We need to get off to a better start. We probably need to make some adjustments out of our press to not give up easy stuff and be a little more stiff defensively."
After two games, 94 of the team's 154 points or 61 percent of the team's scoring has come in the paint going 28-1 the last two years when outscoring teams in the category. Inside of the arc, the team is 55-for-99 shooting 56 percent from the floor through the first two outings and each of the five starters or shooting at least 50 percent.
The weekend starts with Carson-Newman (2-0) and Clayton State (2-1) colliding for the 11th time as each have won five of the first 10 matchups. The Lady Eagles have won three of the last four by a total of 14 points including a 73-66 victory in Morrow, Ga. a season ago.
Last year, Mincey won the 200th game of his coaching career seeing his team use an 8-0 scoring surge in the final 28 seconds of the first quarter to lead for 36 minutes and by as many as 15. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) and Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) each scored 14 points with Wykle making eight of 10 at the free-throw line and Penland chipping in four assists and three rebounds. The bench piled up 35 points in the game with Abby Wilson and Tori Rutherford (Rutledge, Tenn.) each notching three steals.
Coach Kaleena Coleman's team finished 2021-22 with a 16-13 record but beat 11th-ranked North Georgia and sixth-ranked Lander during the year falling to the Nighthawks 72-65 in the Peach Belt Tournament Championship game.
Selected third in the Peach Belt preseason poll, the Lakers return senior forward Audrey McElhaney who averaged 14 points and eight rebounds per game last season finishing with seven double-doubles. However she has not scored in double figures so far this season.
Through the first three games of the year, Clayton State walloped Anderson to open the year before falling in overtime to UVA Wise bouncing back to beat Barry on Monday. Laylah Davis is one of two double-digit scorers after scoring 21 points in Monday's win over Barry.
Coach Mike Mincey is 17-13 against nationally-ranked teams including a 7-5 in road affairs. With a 3-4 record against the top 10, C-N is 2-5 in neutral matchups with nationally-ranked foes with the lone wins coming at Aiken against No. 15 Lander on Nov. 11, 2017, a 90-87 win and No. 10 Lander on Nov. 12, 2022 winning 79-70. Six games have required overtime with C-N going 5-1.
Over the last decade, the Orange and Blue have played eight matchups where both teams were ranked in the top 25 with C-N winning five of the eight but the unit dropped both such affairs a year ago.
With the Nighthawks sitting at No. 4 in the media poll, C-N has a chance to record a win over the highest-ranked team since 2008 with the previous coming against fifth-ranked Tusculum on Jan. 17, 2009, a 90-87 victory. The Lady Eagles could get their second win over a top 10 team in six days after posting two in the last 12 years.
Saturday is the 15th meeting with North Georgia (2-0) as the Lady Eagles cling to an 8-6 advantage in the series dropping each of the last two. It will be a rematch of the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament, a 78-64 defeat.
Facing its largest halftime deficit in four years, fifth-seeded Carson-Newman clawed back to a five-point deficit before falling. Carson-Newman dominated on the glass against a team that ranked ninth in the country in rebounding margin holding a 51-33 advantage but the Nighthawks turned the ball over five times in the affair. Wykle finished with a game-high 26 points.
Coach Buffie Burson has guided her team to four straight regional finals winning for the second time last year advancing to the Final Four before being bounced by six by Western Washington. Julianee Sutton, Abbie Franklin and Jamari McDavid graduated after winning four Peach Belt Tournaments, three regular-season titles and two regional championships.
This season, North Georgia has opened with a one-point win over Lees-McRae and a five-point triumph over Tusculum. Caroline Martin, who scored 17 points in last year's meeting has scored 17 and 28 respectively taking 21 of the team's 47 free-throw attempts.
Since opening the Convocation Center is February 2018, North Georgia is 61-3 at home winning nine straight since a loss to Clayton State on Feb. 9. The Lady Eagles have one of those wins coming on Nov. 17, 2018 as the No. 3 team in the nation winning by 13, 91-78.
Both affairs will air on cneagles.com/live starting 15 minutes before tip with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" with Friday airing on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and cneagles.com/live and Saturday's game exclusively available online.
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