GAFFNEY, S.C. – After a demolition of a top-10 team, Carson-Newman hops back on the bus to travel to Limestone in its first South Atlantic Conference contest of the season Wednesday night at the Timken Center for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against the Saints.
"To have this kind of performance before conference play starts for us at Limestone, it's a huge momentum thing," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "My hope has always been by the time we get to late January and early February that we can look back on this time and embrace the challenge and adversity. It reveals a lot of stuff and when you can come out and have a performance like [Saturday], I think it can really help us. If you play well, make plays and put the ball in the bucket, we can play with anyone in the region."
Turnovers have been a point of contention for the group this season but the Orange and Blue are third in the league posting 14.9 per game. For the year, Carson-Newman (4-4) has turned it over 11 times or fewer four times winning thrice with three games of 20 or more losing two of the three.
Since joining the SAC, the Lady Eagles are 22-11 in SAC openers while holding an 9-2 record under Mike Mincey with wins in five straight. Both of those losses have come to Lincoln Memorial coming in back-to-back seasons. The Railsplitters won 56-54 at home on Nov. 24, 2015 and won at Mossy Creek, 102-99 in overtime on Nov. 22, 2016.
Wednesday marks the seventh time the program faces off with Limestone (3-5) trailing the all-time series 4-2 but earning a resounding 100-62 victory in the last meeting on Feb. 19 jumping out to a 27-5 lead after a period while shooting 52 percent for the game.
Including an NCAA Tournament game in 2015, the program is 0-4 at the Timken Center with two of the three losses to the Saints coming by double figures including an 88-76 defeat the week before Christmas last year.
Coach Corey Fox's club enters the clash riding a four-game losing streak with three coming by double figures and the other by nine points. Limestone's last win came on Nov. 19, the lone home game of the year, beating Southern Wesleyan 87-72. The club's three wins have come against teams with a combined record of 4-20.
Despite grabbing 13 offensive rebounds per game, the team has been outrebounded by seven boards per contest this year and in five of the last six games overall including being minus-28 against Georgia College in a four-point loss on Nov. 16.
The Saints excel at applying pressure forcing 22 turnovers per game, the 31st-best number in the nation, while grabbing a dozen steals per affair with double figures in seven of eight. Opponents have turned the ball over at least 15 times in every game and 21 or more six times. However Emory & Henry won on Saturday despite giving the ball away 27 times thanks in large part to shooting 59 percent from the field.
Preseason first-team all-conference pick Quin Byrd leads the league with 18.5 points per game for the year with double digits in all eight and four matchups of at least 20 in her last six. Volume shooting has been key as she has taken 25 percent of the team's field-goal attempts and nearly 50 more than anyone else on the roster. Her 136 shots are the eighth-most in the country.
Forming a formidable inside-outside punch, Kalisha Hill has three double-doubles this season and leads the league with four offensive rebounds per game. She is coming off of a season-high 18 points making eight of 12 shot attempts.
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.
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