JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The 2023-24 season officially gets underway this weekend as Carson-Newman plays as host to the SAC/PBC challenge beginning on Saturday with a matchup versus Lander at 5:30 p.m., followed by a meeting with USC Aiken on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
Carson-Newman is 33-12 in season openers and has won 10 of its last 11 openers. Since this SAC/PBC challenge began nine seasons ago, Carson-Newman has played very well sporting a 14-2 record, with both losses suffered to Lander. The Lady Eagles will host the SAC/PBC challenge for the third time and first since 2018-19. C-N is 4-0 hosting this challenge.
"We lost our last two games at home dating back to last year," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey said. "So, what used to be the friendly confines for us weren't so friendly at the end of last year. I've reminded our team of that quite often. Many things from the second semester of last year have been talked about. Things that happened last year that we need to make right this year. I think we've looked outstanding at times in the preseason and we've looked horribly bad at times. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of team shows up this weekend against two Peach Belt schools."
Mincey enters his thirteenth season as the Lady Eagles head coach. He has 240 career wins, 11 away from passing Eddie Carter for the most wins in program history. Mincey has led C-N to five 20 plus win seasons to go along with two regular season championships and two tournament championships.
Carson-Newman won the SAC's scoring title for an eighth straight season averaging points per game, a mark that was top 20 in the country as well. Along with the scoring came with C-N averaging 16 assists per game, another mark that was 20th in the country. Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) led Carson-Newman in scoring once again by averaging nearly 21 points per game. She enters the 2023-24 season needing 203 points to become the Lady Eagles' all-time leading scorer.
Saturday's meeting with Lander will be the 19th time the two schools square off. Neither team has won back-to-back games on four consecutive occasions. C-N holds the 10-8 advantage and is 6-2 at home in the series. Carson-Newman won last season's season opener 79-70 in Aiken, S.C. Wykle led all scorers with a game-high 27 points shooting an efficient 12 of 17 from the field. C-N also got double digit scoring from Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn) who was 7 of 11 for 17 points in 27 minutes of action. The key to victory was the Lady Eagles' start to each half. C-N dominated the first quarter outscoring the Bearcats 23-9. The Lady Eagles also won the third quarter by putting 24 points in that period as well.
The Bearcats are hoping to turn things around in Stephanie Gehlhausen's second season at Lander. Her first season saw the Bearcats finish 8-19 and 5-13 in Peach Belt conference play. Lander has been picked to finish seventh in the PBC.
Five players return from last season led by PBC Freshman of the Year Quadaija Langley. She earned that honor by starting in all 27 games and leading the team in scoring with 12 points per game as a rookie. Four of those five returning players were starters last season. The Bearcats have seven newcomers on this year's roster.
USC Aiken enters Sunday's game having lost eight consecutive games to Carson-Newman with its last win coming in 2010. C-N leads the all-time series 11-3 and has won three straight at Holt Fieldhouse. After being outscored by ten points in the opening quarter and trailing at halftime, the Lady Eagles surged past the Pacers for a 75-57 win one year ago. C-N outscored USC Aiken 43-19 in the second half and held the Pacers offense to six fourth quarter points. Campbell Penland scored a game-high 21 points, making six of her ten shots, while also securing a team-high nine rebounds and four steals. Wykle, Tori Rutherford and Skylar Boshears (LaFollette, Tenn.) each scored in double-digits in the win as well.
Head coach Mark Miller enters his 17th season as the head coach of the Pacers, and his team is picked to finish third in the PBC. After finishing 2022-23 at 18-12, Miller led USC Aiken to its first NCAA tournament berth since 2012-13.
The Pacers main return top player Jentri Worley who is set to lead a roster that features 12 underclassmen. The third-team all-PBC selection garnered 11.8 points per night and 5.0 rebounds per game a season ago. Additionally, she dished out 110 assists and registered 32 steals. Worley has started every game since her arrival in 2021-22.
Tip off between Carson-Newman and Lander is set for 5:30 p.m. with airtime starting at 5:15 p.m. with "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off". All the games this season can heard on the Eagle Sports Network with video coverage available on FloSports.
