VIDEO: Carson-Newman vs Lenoir-Rhyne Nov Highlights
VIDEO: Carson-Newman vs Anderson Cinematic Highlights
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After a bye on Wednesday, RV Carson-Newman (15-5, 12-4 SAC) returns to the floor on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in a matchup with Lenoir-Rhyne (8-12, 6-10 SAC) at Shuford Arena.
Carson-Newman aims for a season sweep of Lenoir-Rhyne after winning the first meeting 92-72 back on November 16th. The Lady Eagles outscored the Bears 33-9 in the first quarter and never looked back, leading by as many as 36 points. Carson-Newman won basically every statistical category in the win, with the largest discrepancy coming on the glass where C-N was a +17. It also produced a season-high 21 second-chance points in the win.
Over the past two seasons, the Lady Eagles have struggled to win road conference games in the month of February. C-N has lost seven of its last eight February road games, with the win coming at UVA Wise on Feb 21, 2024. Prior to the past two seasons, Carson-Newman had won 13 of its last 15 road games in February.
Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) is coming off her best rebounding day of her career, grabbing 18 rebounds in Carson-Newman's three-point victory over Anderson last Saturday. She led C-N with 22 points as well for her fifth double-double of the year and 28th of her career. The graduate student forward is shooting 64 percent from the field, second-best in the country only behind Washburn's Yiibari Nwidadah who is shooting 65.8 percent. Taylor continues to climb the all-time scoring and rebounding charts; she is 209 points away from Leah Jackson for third place. Her 812 career rebounds are ninth all-time, only four rebounds away from moving into eighth.
The Lady Eagles rank top 15 nationally in six different categories. C-N's 20.2 assists per game is number one, while its 1.28 assist to turnover ratio is seventh best. The skillful passing has led to the sixth-best scoring offense getting 82.6 points per game and to shoot 45.9 percent from the field, ranking 11th nationally. They have gotten it done on the defensive end of the floor as well, ranking 11 nationally averaging 4.6 blocks per game and winning the turnover margin at 5.7 on average, 15th best nationally.
Tying with Carson-Newman for the most first-place votes, Lenoir-Rhyne has not lived up to those expectations. Entering Saturday's contest, LR is 8-12 and is tied for ninth place with a 6-10 conference record.
The Bears will enter the series finale with C-N playing some of their best basketball of the year, having won three of their last five games. Grahm Smith's team is 4-5 at home but has lost four of their last six in Hickory. It's the most losses for LR at home since the 2021-22 season.
Alexandra Merceron is the team's top scorer at 15.1 points and shoots 52 percent from the field. She has scored 20+ in four games this season, including a career-high of 28 points in a loss to Tusculum last week.
Preseason all-conference players Blaikley Crooks and Emily Harman average double-figures as well. Crooks scores 13.2 points per game and is second in the SAC with a 89.7 free throw percentage. Harman averages 11.9 points and has the seventh-most three-pointers in the league with 37.
LR is the best in the league at taking care of the basketball, committing just 14 turnovers per game. It ranks second in the conference behind C-N in assist to turnover ratio as well. Lenoir-Rhyne's offense is fourth in both field goal and three-point percentage.
Tipoff between the Lady Eagles and Bears is set for 2:00 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 1:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
