JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After opening the season with six straight games outside of the Volunteer State, 17th-ranked Carson-Newman aims to snap a three-game losing skid by opening Holt Fieldhouse for the first time this season against No. 18 Catawba Monday at 5:30 p.m.
"It was a learning experience for us up in Detroit," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "Once we can get back to the drawing board and try to figure out the type of team we can be. We already know we are a good team. We know that we have good shooters. It didn't pan out for us those two days but there are better days ahead for us."
The Lady Eagles have won 15 straight home openers and all 11 of the contests under Mincey. Six of the last seven have been by at least 25 with the lone exception coming in 2020-21 by nine against Newberry. The average margin of victory of the last six is 30. The last loss came on Nov. 16, 2007 when North Georgia upended C-N 81-79 to open 2007-08.
Monday night is the third time this year that Carson-Newman (3-3) tangles in a top 25 matchup beating Lander by nine to start the year before falling by six at North Georgia. Overall it is the 10th time in the last decade featuring a ranked battle with the Orange and Blue sitting at 5-4 through the first nine.
Overall, the Lady Eagles are 19-17 when facing a nationally-ranked foe since 2008 holding a 9-3 record at Mossy Creek. However the club has dropped its last two including a 56-52 setback to No. 14 Catawba (5-0) a year ago and a 102-100 double overtime loss to 20th-ranked Anderson in 2020. The last victory at home came on Jan. 19, 2019 beating No. 25 Newberry 71-55.
C-N and Catawba meet up on the hardwood for the 76th time with the Indians holding a 39-36 all-time edge winning each of its last two visits to Holt Fieldhouse since the Lady Eagles last won a 96-86 triumph on Feb. 15, 2020.
Two of the last seven tussles have required overtime with five decided by single digits. In three meetings last year, C-N clipped Catawba in Salisbury, N.C. in overtime before falling by four at home but won 66-58 in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament semifinals.
Coach Terence McCutcheon's crew is rolling to begin the season winning each of its first five games by double digits posting an average margin of victory of 25 points per game, a mark that ranks 11th in Division II. Despite ranking ninth in the conference in free-throw percentage, the Indians are the third-best scoring unit in the league at 79 points per game.
The formula is similar to recent seasons forcing more than 23 turnovers per game, top 30 in the nation, grabbing better than a dozen steals per affair. Four of the first five games of the year have seen Catawba snatch at least 10 pilfers with Shaw only allowing four steals.
Newly-minted 1,000-point scorer Lyrik Thorne paces three double-digit scorers with 18.6 points per game cresting double digits in each of the first five attempting at least 16 shot attempts per game. She also averages just shy of five assists per game ranking third in the league.
Catawba has been a solid shooting team making 42 percent from the field and also leads the SAC with 16 offensive rebounds per game with at least 14 in all five games. The unit is averaging 19 second-chance points per game buoyed by 42 against Lander.
Broadcast coverage airs on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and cneagles.com/live starting at 5:15 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network. Video is available with your subscription to FloSports.
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