JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Securing a 10th conference victory last time out, Carson-Newman (16-7, 10-5 SAC) stays home looking to extend a 12-game home winning streak Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse against South Atlantic Conference foe Tusculum (3-18, 1-14 SAC).
With a seven-point victory against Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday, C-N achieved several feats. It was the program's 10th conference win of the season, marking the 12th time in 13 seasons that head coach Mike Mincey has led his program to double-digit league wins. The win was also Carson-Newman's 12th straight home win of the season, matching its second-longest home winning streak in program history.
It's the sixth time the program has won 12 straight home games and the fifth time it has happened under head coach Mike Mincey. Carson-Newman has finished unbeaten at home in the regular season twice under Mincey. The 2017-18 season saw C-N finish 16-0 at home and go on to play in the Elite Eight. The 2020-21 team went 8-0 at home in the regular season and eventually lost two home postseason games. The home winning streak this season is the 17th longest active home winning streak in DII and the second best among SAC schools. Carson-Newman has been exceptional at home, winning home games by an average of 20 points and every game by six points or more.
Makayla Alvey is coming off one of her best games in a C-N uniform. The junior finished one assist shy of a triple-double scoring 10 points, bringing down a career-high 16 rebounds and dishing out a career-high nine assists. Alvey leads the SAC in assist/turnover ratio with a 2.19 mark. She has recorded 12 games with three or more assists and has led C-N in that category seven times.
With another double-digit scoring effort on Saturday, Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) now has 68 career double-figure games in 77 games in her Carson-Newman career. The senior forward is 39 points away from moving into the top 20 on the program's all-time scoring list. She is the third most efficient player in the country at 63.2%.
With 134 career games played, Braelyn Wykle is just three appearances away from playing in the most games in program history. Missy Brown holds the record for games played with 136 through the 1978-82 seasons. Scoring 8 points against Mars Hill one week ago, Wykle moved into the top ten all-time in scoring among DII players all-time with 2,517 career points. She is 43 points away from moving into ninth place all-time.
In the first meeting between Tusculum and Carson-Newman this season, the Lady Eagles outscored TU by 28 points in the second half to secure a 39-point road win, their biggest win since winning by the same mark back on Jan 26, 1999. In that game, Tori Rutherford (Rutledge, Tenn.) scored 13 points, dished out 11 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds to record the program's first triple double since Jai Jai McLaughlin had 11 points, 10 assists and 12 rebounds in the SAC quarterfinals against Catawba on March 5th, 2014. Also in that game, C-N recorded a season-high 26 offensive rebounds, which resulted in 19 second chance points and a season-high 86 shot attempts. The 26 offensive boards were the most since recording the same number in a 107-71 win versus King on Nov. 16, 2016.
C-N leads the all-time series 61-21 and is 35-6 against the Pioneers at Holt Fieldhouse.
The Pioneers come to Mossy Creek with the third-longest active losing streak in DII women's basketball at 15 games. Only Clarion and Lake Erie have longer active losing streaks. During this 15-game skid, only two of the losses have been by single digits, both of which were to the top two teams in the SAC standings. TU has lost 14 straight league games, with its only win coming against Anderson back on Dec. 2.
TU's main struggle has been defending its opponents. The Pioneers give up the most points per game (82) and highest field goal percentage (44) in the league. In seven of their last eight games, they have allowed their opponent to score 80 points or more.
Tusculum does get quality minutes from its bench. Roger Hodge gets a league-high 25 points from his bench. N'kiah Chesterfield and Faith Silva are the top two scorers for TU averaging in double-figures. In conference play, those two have both upped their scoring average by a point.
Broadcast coverage airs on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and online at cneagles.com/live starting at 5:15 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloWbb
