Lady Eagles to Take On Wingate Wednesday In 2010 Food Lion SAC Tournament Quarterfinals

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (22-5) has earned the third seed in the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament and will face sixth-seeded Wingate (14-13) on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m., at Holt Fieldhouse. The contest will be a rematch of Saturday’s SAC regular season finale, this time on home turf for the Lady Eagles.

Carson-Newman is ranked No. 22 in NCAA Division II by the WBCA this week. The Lady Eagles have been ranked in the top 25 in the country for ten straight weeks dating back to December 15, 2009.

“You never like to play the same team team two times in five days. Coach (Barbara) Nelson will have the ready to roll after Saturday,” said Head Coach Dean Walsh. “They’re a great team that has size and they have a great player in Kurie (Washington). To beat a team of their caliber three times will be a hurdle and a great accomplishment.”

Carson-Newman defeated Wingate, 76-65, Saturday afternoon at Cuddy Arena to clinch third place in the 2009-10 SAC regular season. Senior forward Shari Buford (Hampton, Ga.) led all players with 15 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks to become the first player in C-N history to have 1000 points, 1000 rebounds and 200 blocks in her career.

Washington leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 18.1 points per game and is also averaging 5.1 rebounds per contest. Carson-Newman has held Washington to just 11.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in the teams’ previous two meetings this year.

The Lady Eagles and the Bulldogs squared off in the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament as well, with C-N coming away with the 95-81 victory to advance to Hickory, N.C., and the tournament semifinals.

Carson-Newman will look to use its balanced scoring attack of Buford, senior guard Ashley Kyle (Jefferson City, Tenn.) and junior guard Mandy Mendenhall (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) to defeat Bulldogs for a third time this season. The three are 10th, 11th and 12th, respectively,in scoring in the SAC with 14.1, 13.8 and 12.9 points per game.

“We’re going to have to come ready to play and not show up thinking that we are going to win just because we’ve beaten them twice. Both games have been close, but we’re going to do our thing and hit shots,” added Walsh.

The winner of Wednesday evening’s game will travel to Hickory, N.C., to play the winner of the No. 7 Lincoln Memorial - No. 2 Newberry game in the semifinals of the Food Lion SAC Tournament. Tipoff for Saturday’s semifinal contest will be at 8:00 p.m.