VIDEO: Braelyn Wykle Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The first meeting in 15 years between Carson-Newman (22-9) and Augusta (22-8) comes in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Salisbury, N.C. at Goodman Gym.
"From the get-go it's going to be a very difficult tournament," Carson-Newman women's basketball head coach Mike Mincey said. "I have seen Augusta play a little bit when we scouted Anderson and Wingate. They are really good and really athletic. It's certainly going to be a really tough challenge for us.
Friday's afternoon's matchup will be just the fourth time the two schools compete on the hardwood. AU and C-N most recently met twice during the 2009 season, with the Lady Eagles winning those contests by 30 and 36 points. The first ever meeting was all the way back in 1991, a 60-57 Jaguars win. Against Peach Belt schools in tournament, C-N is 3-7.
The Lady Eagles are in the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in program history and the seventh time it has been accomplished in 13 seasons under head coach Mike Mincey. Of the seven appearances, six have come in the last seven seasons.
Carson-Newman enters the NCAA Tournament as the number two overall seed in the Southeast Region, its highest ranking since C-N was the number one seed in 2018. In 18 total postseason games since going to Division II, Carson-Newman is 7-11 and has won a first-round contest four times, in 2005, 2010, 2018 and most recently in 2022.
Carson-Newman has been one of the best offensive teams all season. C-N fourth nationally in assists per game and has an assist to turnover ratio at 1.21, 10th best in the country. The quality of passing has led to C-N being the ninth best scoring offense averaging more than 77 points per game.
The Lady Eagles have plenty of NCAA tournament experience on the roster led by Braelyn Wykle (Greeneville, Tenn.) who is set to compete in her fourth NCAA tournament. Wykle has led C-N in scoring all season, averaging 18.7 points per game and is up to 2,711 career points which is sixth-most all-time among DII players. Skylar Boshears, Lindsey Taylor, Campbell Penland and Makayla Alvey all have tournament experience as well. These five players all competed in two NCAA Tournament games during the 2022 season, while Boshears, Taylor and Wykle have all experienced one extra game in 2021.
Wykle begins her final NCAA Tournament looking to continue to surge up the all-time scoring charts. She is 55 points away from passing Lewis' Jessica Kelliher for fifth-place on the DII all-time scoring list. The guard is currently 10th all-time in three-pointers made with 361 and is eight triples away from sixth all-time.
The Jaguars are 22-8 this season and will enter the NCAA Tournament as the number seven seed, having won five of its last six games. It's just their program's fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2016. Augusta won a regional championship in 2004.
Augusta has faced three teams from the South Atlantic Conference in Wingate, Anderson and Newberry and has gone 2-1 with the only loss coming against Anderson back on Nov. 29. Four of the team's eight losses came consecutively after that Anderson loss.
The Jaguars had three players named to the all-conference teams in Autumn Phillips, Tomiyah Alford and Kennedi Manning. Phillips leads AU in scoring, averaging 15.4 points per game, while also leading the team in free throw percentage and steals, turning in 2.2 takeaways per contest. She leads the conference in made three-pointers per game as well. Alford is first in the PBC in field goal percentage (52 percent) and also ranks in the top ten in scoring for the conference and second on the team in points. Manning paces Augusta in rebounds, turning in 5.1 per contest more than double any other Jaguar player. She also is first on the team in blocks, turning in an impressive 1.2 per game.
AU shoots the highest percentage from three-point range in the PBC at 33.4 but that comes on just under 14 three-point attempts per game. It's an offense that averages 69 points per game and shoots 44.3 percent from the field, 24th best nationally.
Ticket information can be found on the Tournament Website by clicking here with general admission tickets available for 12 dollars each.
Broadcast coverage airs on the Eagle Sports Network starting at 2:15 for "The Appalachian Electric Cooperative Countdown to Tip-Off" on Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) with an audio stream available on cneagles.com/live for free.
