JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With eight games against teams that made the NCAA tournament last year and two against Final Four teams, Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey has released his schedule for the upcoming 2023-24 Carson-Newman women's basketball season.
The 28-game slate features 15 home games, 12 on the road and one neutral site matchup. The 15 games inside Holt Fieldhouse will be the most home games since the Lady Eagles played 15 during the 2014-15 season.
For the second straight season, Carson-Newman will visit Rocky Top to take on the Lady Vols in an exhibition game on Oct 30. The matchup will be the 36th all-time meeting between the two Tennessee schools.
"Every time we get a chance to go down the road to Knoxville and play the Lady Vols it's an exciting time for our team," Mincey said. "It'll be the second year in a row we get to do that since we took a break there for a couple of years. They are going to be talented as always, it's good PR for our program and we look forward to it."
The regular season gets underway on November 11-12 when C-N serves as host for the SAC/Peach Belt Challenge. It will battle Lander first and then USC Aiken, an NCAA tournament team this past season.
One week later, the Eagles hit the road for the Georgia Southwestern Classic. C-N plays the host Georgia Southwestern on Nov 17, a group that made the Sweet 16 last year. The second weekend of the year wraps up with a neutral site affair against Columbus State.
The month of November concludes with a pair of home non-conference games. Two days before Thanksgiving, C-N welcomes Wingate to Holt Fieldhouse, followed by a Nov. 29 matchup with Belmont Abbey.
C-N begins December with three conference games, two of which are on the road. Mincey's group dips back out of conference play on Dec. 19 to host Saginaw Valley, in what will be the second all-time meeting, after the two met in Michigan last season.
"That was an unfortunate trip for us, very humbling trip," Mincey said. "We had just lost Lindsey (Taylor) to her ACL tear and then had to turn around and go up to Detroit. We wanted to go back up there but it didn't work out and then Saginaw Valley called us and was wanting to make a Tennessee trip. We get to play another team that smacked us by 17 last year, but this year is on our home floor. So, hopefully we can do a little bit better this year than we did last."
The calendar year concludes with a trip to West Virginia to take on Glenville State on Dec 30. The two teams agreed to a two-year contract that has Glenville State coming to Mossy Creek next season. The Pioneers won the 2022 National Championship and are coming off a trip to the Final Four this past year. It will be C-N's first trip to the Mountain State since 2007.
"We were having a hard time scheduling, we were stuck at 27 games for most of the summer," Mincey said. "Then, Glenville State reached out to us and wanted to play. Obviously, we want to play a strong schedule and play against some strong teams. Our girls expect that and need that, to be challenged in these tough non-conference games. I think it's a game that only make our team more prepared as we go into conference play."
The 2024 calendar year will feature all conference games, the first coming on January 3rd at Lincoln Memorial, and then wrapping up the month of January with a second meeting with the Railsplitters.
The start of February is highlighted by a road trip to Catawba, another team that made it all the way to the Final Four last season. After a venture to Mars Hill, C-N will stay home for three consecutive home conference games, a fifth occasion in which the group will play consecutive home games.
Two of C-N's final three games are on the road, with the season finale being a home matchup with Mars Hill.
Overall, Carson-Newman will face SAC schools, Anderson, Emory & Henry, Limestone, Lincoln Memorial, Lenoir-Rhyne, Mars Hill, Tusculum, UVA Wise and Wingate twice this season.
"There's a lot of parity in our league," Mincey said. "A lot of teams that have struggled in the past whether it be coaching changes or whatever, have shored up some of their weaknesses and become really strong teams. You can't really pinpoint a weak team in the league. There is not going to be an easy night and we saw that last year. I'm sure it is going to be a tough league to win this year for whoever can get it done."
The new SAC Basketball Tournament format begins March 5-8, a format that will have quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games played at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center.
All road games can be heard on Mountain Talk 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.
