March 6, 2013

Burstrom Named to SAC All-Freshman Team

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman freshman Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) earned South Atlantic Conference All-Freshman Team honors for her play during her freshman season as a Lady Eagle, announced by the conference office on Wednesday.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman freshman Tatum Burstrom (Maryville, Tenn.) earned South Atlantic Conference All-Freshman Team honors for her play during her freshman season as a Lady Eagle, announced by the conference office on Wednesday.

Burstrom was the only Lady Eagle named to earn postseason All-SAC honors, and the recognition comes on the heels of Burstrom being named the SAC Player of the Week for her play during the last week of the regular season.

In only her freshman season, Burstrom led the Lady Eagles in scoring by averaging 11.2 points per game. She also led the team and was second in the league by hitting 37.7 percent of her three-point shots. She scored in double-figures in 14 of Carson-Newman's 25 games, and was the leading scorer in four of the Lady Eagles last six games.

Burstrom started her award-winning week with a career-high 24-point performance at Catawba last Wednesday night. She knocked down a season-best six three-pointers in the victory as the Lady Eagles earned their first win inside Goodman Gymnasium since Jan. 21, 2006 as Carson-Newman won 60-59.

Burstrom was 7-for-13 shooting from the field and 6-for-10 from three-point land, in addition to going 4-for-5 at the free throw line in the narrow victory for the Lady Eagles. After getting off to a slow start by not scoring in Carson-Newman's first half against Wingate, Burstrom scored 12 points and helped the Lady Eagles outscore the Bulldogs 39-24 in the final 20 minutes as Carson-Newman won 56-50 on Senior Day. Against Wingate, Burstrom hit a pair of three-pointers and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the foul line in her final regular season game.

Burstrom leads the Lady Eagles in scoring by averaging 11.2 points per game and is second in the SAC in three-point percentage, making 38 percent of her shots from beyond the arc.

Carson-Newman will play its SAC Tournament quarterfinal game at fourth-seeded Newberry tonight at 7 p.m. inside Eleazer Arena. The Lady Eagles and Wolves split both meetings this season, with each team winning on their home court. Carson-Newman held Newberry to a season-low 39 points in a 57-39 win on Jan. 12 in Jefferson City, while the Wolves won 75-66 on Feb. 16 in Newberry.

The winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup between Carson-Newman and Newberry will face the winner of top-seeded Anderson and eighth-seeded Lincoln Memorial in the semifinals at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. on Saturday March 9 at noon. The championship game will be played on Sunday March 10 at 1:30 p.m. at Timmons Arena.

Coverage of all Carson-Newman games in the 2013 Food Lion SAC Women's Basketball Championship will be available on www.cneagles.com as well as the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network.