C-N challenges defending national champions in national quarterfinals
PITTSBURGH, Pa – The city of Pittsburgh provides the site for the 2026 NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Elite Eight as eighth-seeded Carson-Newman (24-10) challenges the defending national champions and top-seeded No. 2 Grand Valley State (33-1) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in the national quarterfinals.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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8 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 48 |
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32 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 96 |
VIDEO: Carson-Newman vs #18 Lenoir-Rhyne Game Highlights
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VIDEO: Elite Eight Press Conference
PITTSBURGH, Pa – The city of Pittsburgh is the stage for the 2026 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight as eighth-seeded Carson-Newman (24-10) challenges the defending national champions and top-seeded No. 2 Grand Valley State (33-1) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in the national quarterfinals.
The Lady Eagles won the Southeast Regional Championship for the second time in program history, by collecting wins over the first, second and fourth seeds, all of which were nationally ranked teams as well. The Lady Eagles entered this NCAA Tournament with just one ranked win in the NCAA Tournament. In 26 total postseason games since moving to Division II, Carson-Newman is now 13-13.
C-N will be facing a ranked team for the fifth straight postseason game and for the 12th time this season. They are 6-5 against ranked foes this season. Tuesday's matchup will be C-N's tenth meeting in the NCAA Tournament against a ranked team, and it is 4-5 all-time and 3-0 this year. GVSU's No. 2 ranking will be the second highest ranked team that Carson-Newman will challenge since 2008. The only higher ranked team that the program has competed against in the last 18 years was at #1 Northern Kentucky, losing 67-51.
In South Atlantic Conference history, Carson-Newman is one of just six schools to reach the Elite Eight. It's the ninth time in league history that a team makes the Elite Eight and the third time its happened in the past four seasons. C-N joins Wingate as the only two schools to make multiple Elite Eight appearances. C-N will hope to join Catawba as the only league schools with wins at the Elite Eight.
C-N will look to become the second eight seed to advance to the Final Four in the last three seasons. In 2024, Cal St. San Marcos upset top-seeded Gannon in the National Quarterfinals.
Mattie Nuckolls (Chatsworth, Ga.) has been one of the best defenders in DII this season. She leads the SAC in blocks with 64, 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 63 career games with C-N, Jennifer Sullivan (Knoxville, Tenn.) has made 148 three-pointers, the eighth-most in program history. The sharpshooter is 10 more triples away from Kayla Marosites for seventh on the three-point shooting list. Sullivan's 40.4 career three-point percentage is third-best all-time in program history. This season, she has drilled 87 triples which leads the SAC and is second-most in a single-season in school history.
Sullivan is already a 1,000-point scorer in her collegiate career, but is now aiming to become C-N's 32nd member of the 1K scoring club. The senior guard needs just seven points to reach that mark in two playing seasons in Mossy Creek.
When the Lady Eagles and Lakers meet tomorrow evening, it will be the first all-time meeting between the two programs. For Carson-Newman, it will be its third all-time meeting against a current school in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. C-N played Wayne State and Saginaw Valley State in November of 2022. It will be GVSU's first-ever matchup against a school from the South Atlantic Conference and just its second game against a current school in the Southeast region.
Grand Valley State is the top overall seed in the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season. The Lakers won their third Midwest Regional title in the last five seasons, defeating Northwood 69-59 on Monday night. They now have seven regional championships in program history. GVSU enters the Elite Eight with a 33-1 record, its fifth straight 30-win campaign.
The Lakers are one of just two schools in DII with just one loss this season. They won their first 21 games of the year before suffering their only loss to a Wayne State team that they defeated on two other occasions.
This is GVSU's 20th NCAA Tournament appearance all-time and their 11th straight. They have claimed two national titles, last season and the first came in 2005-06. They will be looking to become the seventh DII school to win back-to-back national championships.
No team in DII has a better scoring margin than Grand Valley State this season. They have beat teams by an average of 28.1 points this season. The Lakers are the seventh-best offensive team at 80.3 points per game and are the sixth-best defensive club holding teams to just 52 points per game.
Paige VanStee, Nicole Kamin and Mackenzie Bisballe were all named first team All-GLIAC and were named to the GLIAC All-Defensive team. VanStee and Bisballe lead the team in scoring, both are around 15 points per game and grab six rebounds as well.
Tip off from UPMC Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Tuesday is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 5:45 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
#2 Grand Valley State
| Game Statistics | Carson-Newman | #2 Grand Valley State |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (19-53) | (32-72) |
| Field Goal % | 35.8% | 44.4% |
| Rebounds | 30 | 52 |
| Assists | 9 | 21 |
| Turnovers | 17 | 7 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 3 | 25 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 11 | 32 |
| Pts in the Paint | 22 | 46 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 4 | 8 |
| Bench Pts | 13 | 44 |
