C-N, No. 18 Lenoir-Rhyne clash for Southeast Regional Crown
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Fifth-seeded Carson-Newman (23-10) competes in its fourth Southeast Regional Championship game Monday night at 7:00 p.m. when it battles second-seeded and eighteenth-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne (26-5) at Tex Turner Arena in Harrogate.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
17 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 72 |
|
|
13 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 53 |
VIDEO: Carson-Newman vs #12 Columbus State First Round Highlights
VIDEO: Carson-Newman at #15 Lincoln Memorial Regional Semifinal Highlights
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Fifth-seeded Carson-Newman (23-10) competes in its fourth Southeast Regional Championship game Monday night at 7:00 p.m. when it battles second-seeded and eighteenth-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne (26-5) at Tex Turner Arena in Harrogate.
With ranked wins over #12 Columbus State and #15 Lincoln Memorial, Carson-Newman has earned a fourth appearance in a Southeast regional championship game. In 25 total postseason games since Division II, Carson-Newman is 12-13 and has wins at the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year. C-N's victory on Saturday was its first against a top-seed at the NCAA Tournament in program history. Carson-Newman is 1-2 in three regional championship games, and is back for the second time in three years.
The program's first regional championship game came against Shaw in 2005. The Lady Eagles fell 67-53. 13 years later, C-N hosted the regional and defended home court, winning games over Anderson, Lander and #25 North Georgia to hoist up the regional championship trophy for the only time in school history.
C-N made it back to the regional title game in 2024, but was ousted by #11 Georgia Southwestern and is now back for the second time in three years.
The Lady Eagles will be facing a ranked team for the 11th time this season on Monday night. They are 5-5 against ranked team foes this season. Monday's matchup will be C-N's ninth meeting in the NCAA Tournament against a ranked team, and it is 3-5 all-time and 2-0 this year.
Lenoir-Rhyne won both regular season meetings against Carson-Newman. On January 10th, LR reset the program's record for three-pointers with 17 makes on just 25 attempts for a 68 percent three-point shooting performance. C-N scored 92 points on 45 percent shooting, but it came up short against LR's 103 points on 51 percent shooting.
The second meeting was in Mossy Creek and served as the regular season finale. The Bears made 59 percent of their first half shots and led by 27 at intermission. C-N turned things around in the second half, outscoring the Bears by eight and held them to 35 percent second-half shooting. LR still won 93-74.
These two South Atlantic Conference schools have met 16 times in the postseason, 14 in the SAC tournament and once each in the NAIA Regional Tournament and NCAA Tournament. In the 16 all-time postseason meetings, C-N is 11-5. The only NCAA Tournament meeting was won by C-N on March 12th, 2010, 79-62 in Greenwood, South Carolina. That meeting came in the opening round.
All-SAC forward Mattie Nuckolls (Chatsworth, Ga.) has been of the best defenders in DII this season. She leads the league in with 64 blocks, the fourth-most in a single-season in program history. For her career, she has 112 rejections, sixth-best in program history. Nuckolls is just nine away from moving into the top five. Offensively, the junior has been magnificent, recording four 20-point games over her last six games.
In 62 career games with C-N, Jennifer Sullivan (Knoxville, Tenn.) has made 145 three-pointers, the eighth-most in program history. The sharpshooter is 13 more triples away from Kayla Marosites for seventh on the three-point shooting list. Sullivan's 40.5 career three-point percentage is third-best all-time in program history. This season, she has drilled 84 triples which leads the SAC and is second-most in a single-season in school history.
The South Atlantic Conference's regular season champions have defeated seventh-seeded Augusta and third-seeded Coker to make the program's first ever regional championship game. The Bears entered the NCAA Tournament with just one all-time win in the tournament, and have already doubled that total in two days. The Bears defeated the Jaguars on Friday 84-75 and then used their best defensive performance of the year to beat Coker 54-45 on Saturday.
First team All-SAC guard Aaliyah El has been terrific in the NCAA Tournament. She has posted consecutive 20-point games in both of LR's wins. The all-region guard averages 17.8 points per game and makes more than 50 percent of her shots.
SAC Coach of the Year Emry Tsitouris' team is second nationally in points per game averaging 85.4 per game. Their only other double-figure scorer on average is SAC Freshman of the Year Abigail Brown who averages 11 points per game. Five other Bears average at least six points per game.
Tip off from Tex Turner Arena in Harrogate, Tennessee is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 6:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A live camera of the broadcast crew "On Press Row" will also be available on YouTube.
Team Stats
#18 Lenoir-Rhyne
| Game Statistics | Carson-Newman | #18 Lenoir-Rhyne |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (27-59) | (16-61) |
| Field Goal % | 45.8% | 26.2% |
| Rebounds | 46 | 37 |
| Assists | 16 | 8 |
| Turnovers | 14 | 15 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 10 | 8 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 13 | 9 |
| Pts in the Paint | 38 | 18 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 6 | 17 |
| Bench Pts | 6 | 14 |
