No. 8 Lady Eagles To Square Off Against Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday At Holt Fieldhouse

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The eighth-ranked Carson-Newman Lady Eagles will put their 16-0 (6-0 SAC) record on the line Saturday when the Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne (12-4, 5-1 SAC) visit Mossy Creek. L-R is the defending South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament champion. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m., at Carson-Newman’s Holt Fieldhouse.

The game will be broadcast on AM 1300 out of Morristown and can also be heard on the web by visiting cneagles.com.

“It’s game 17. Yes, it’s magnified that we’re one game up on Lenoir-Rhyne,” said Lady Eagle Head Coach Dean Walsh. “They’re the (defending) conference champs and preseason favorites; but the bottom line is, it’s game 17 and the kids know what’s at stake. That’s how we’re going to play it.”

Carson-Newman returns to the court after an impressive performance that resulted in a 114-64 victory over Brevard Wednesday night on the road. The Lady Eagles shot 55.8 percent (48-for-86) and hit a season-high 12 three-pointers against the Tornados. Sophomore forward Zoriah Williams (Calera, Ala.) led the way with 17 points and nine rebounds in just 16 minutes on the court.

C-N is first in the SAC in several categories including scoring offense (81.1 ppg), scoring margin (+17.6 pts.), field goal percentage (45.2%), three-point field goal defense (26.7%), assists (16.3 apg), steals (14.8 spg), blocks (5.9 bpg) and turnover margin (+8.06).

Junior guard Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) is sixth in the league in scoring (16.2 ppg) and is first in three-point field goal percentage (49.1%) while senior guard Ashley Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) is ninth in scoring (14.6 ppg) and leads the conference in assists (5.2 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.21). Senior forward Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) is first in the SAC in blocks (3.0 bpg) and third in rebounding (10.4 rpg).

L-R comes into Saturday’s game after a weeklong break. The Bears are the winners of their last two contests, defeating Mars Hill and Lincoln Memorial at home in SAC action.

The team, led by one of the best backcourts in the region, has eight seniors this season. Sophomore guard Cameron Sealey leads the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game while senior guards Brittany Mitch and Amber Holt are averaging 11.8 and 10.5 points per outing, respectively. Senior guard Jami Safrit is also putting up strong numbers, with 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest.

As a unit, the Bears are second in the SAC in free throw percentage (73.3%) and are third in scoring offense (72.9 ppg) and field goal percentage (43.1%).

Carson-Newman leads the all-time series with Lenoir-Rhyne, 36-16.