JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman's (21-7, 18-6 SAC) quest for a fourth South Atlantic Conference Championship begins Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in the quarterfinal round versus seven-seeded Lincoln Memorial (13-14, 12-12 SAC) at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center.
C-N has been a top four seed 24 times and has an 19-5 record in the quarterfinal round. Overall, C-N is 32-31 in the SAC Women's Basketball Championships, with eight championship game appearances and three championships. After making the championship game this past season, Mincey's team will aim to make back-to-back appearances in the league title game, something that has only been done one other time, 1998 and 1999. The Lady Eagles are one of three teams along with Catawba and Wingate to participate in each SAC Tournament since the first iteration in 1991.
The Lady Eagles earned the number two seed in the South Atlantic Conference tournament after finishing the regular season 18-6 in league play. The last time C-N was a number two seed was 2022, the last time it won the conference tournament title.
Both regular season meetings in this matchup went to Lincoln Memorial, but both games were decided by six points or less. Just six days ago, LMU defended home court with a 69-63 victory. The first meeting was a four-point margin back on January 8th, a game that snapped C-N's second-longest home winning streak.
These two Tennessee rivals have met four times in the SAC Tournament, with LMU winning three of those contests. The last two postseason meetings came in the quarterfinal round, the only two first round matchups all-time and were both won by the Railsplitters in 2019 and 2021. Counting the old NAIA and VSAC days, there have been seven postseason meetings with LMU having won five of those.
Lindsey Taylor (Maryville, Tenn.) continues to close in on third place in scoring all-time. Her 1,676 career points are 62 away from Leah Jackson. The senior forward has the sixth-most rebounds in program history with 871. Taylor is having a historic year shooting the basketball. Her 67.7 percent shooting from the field is number one nationally and is five percent better than the best mark in a season in program history, which she set during the 2021-22 season.
Senior guard Campbell Penland (Sevierville, Tenn.) is making a surge up the scoring chart as well. She is 17 points from 11th and is 35 points from Haris Price's 1,377 career points. Penland has made 227 career three-pointers, the third-most in program history. She leads the conference with 64 made triples this season.
Seven-seeded Lincoln Memorial enters the conference tournament playing its best basketball of the season. It has won four of its last five games and ended the regular season with its largest margin of victory this season, a 34-point rout of Limestone on Saturday.
LMU's last two postseason wins are against C-N. It has not won a SAC tournament game over the past three seasons, including losses in back-to-back years after not making it 2022. - Alexa Smiddy is one of the top guards in the conference. In two wins over C-N, she has averaged 26.5 points per game on 66.6 percent shooting including 56 percent of her three-pointers. Six days ago, she erupted for a season-high 32 points and made a career-high seven three-pointers. She averages 15.1 points per game this season and shoots 41 percent from both the field and long range.
The Railsplitters have the third best scoring defense in the conference, allowing just 62.7 points per game. It held Limestone to just 38 points on Saturday. C-N is only one of two teams to make seven or more three-pointers on LMU. The Railsplitters' three-point defense is elite, forcing opponents to shoot 25.7 percent on average.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Railsplitters is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 7:15 p.m. with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
