Eyeing a bounce back effort after its first loss of the season, ninth-ranked Carson-Newman ventures out of the Southeast to visit the Motor City for two contests against Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams leading up to Thanksgiving at the Wayne State Fieldhouse. Action starts on Tuesday at 6 p.m. against the host institution with a Wednesday 1 p.m. contest versus Saginaw Valley State in the Warrior Holiday Tournament.
Coach Mike Mincey's team has not lost back-to-back regular-season games since falling to Wingate by six and Anderson by three within the span of a week in November and December 2019 (the unit lost consecutive postseason games in 2021). After each of the last 11 losses, the team has recovered with a victory, nine of which have been by double figures and by an average of 28 points per game.
This is the first time in eight years that the Lady Eagles face off with teams in a holiday tournament from outside of the Southeast Region. The last time came in December 2014 when it played Trevecca Nazerene and Kentucky Wesleyan prior to Christmas in Owensboro, Ky. Overall, Mincey has a 12-2 record against teams from outside of the region.
Carson-Newman (3-1) has never played a team from the current GLIAC any only faced one team from Michigan in the history of the program. The Orange and Blue played Northwood twice at the beginning of the millennium falling 80-46 on Nov. 26, 2000 at Northern Kentucky before beating the Timberwolves in the same location 69-58 on Dec. 20, 2002.
Wayne State (2-1) earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament last season earning the No. 7 seed in the Midwest and its fifth postseason berth. The team was eliminated in the first round by Grand Valley State falling 72-46 for a program that has three Sweet 16 appearances and a regional final berth in 2015.
Coach Carrie Lohr is the all-time winningest coach in school history with three 20-win seasons under her belt and returned her team to the postseason for the first time since 2015 last year. The club was selected sixth in the preseason GLIAC poll returning six players and adding six newcomers.
The Warriors need to replace all three of the team's double-digit scorers from last season with Grace George pacing the group with 13 points per night draining 42 percent from long distance. Sam Cherney tallied a double-double on average with 12 points and 12 rebounds on average.
Out of the gates, Wayne State dropped the opener 87-61 to fifth-ranked Ashland but has won the last two games beating Malone by 12 and walloping Central State 96-55. As a club, the team is shooting 44 percent from the field but is 14-for-58, 24 percent, from long range.
Shea Tripp leads a trio of double digit scorers for the year posting 14 per game making 49 percent from the field while leading the team with eight boards per game. She has been in double figures in all three games to star the year and produced a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds in game two.
Picked to finish fourth in the GLIAC to start the year, Saginaw Valley State (2-2) won 16 games last season with the highlight coming at Grand Valley State, a top 10 team, to open December, 51-45. The Cardinals return two of the team's top three scorers needing to replace Maddie Maloney's 11 points and four assists.
Coach Jenny Pruett returns an elite one-punch in Kaitlyn Zarycki and Tori DePerry, a duo that combines to average 37 of the team's 67 points per game for the year. No other player posts more than eight on average. The tandem has each been in double figures so far in each game this year with DePerry posting a pair of 20-point affairs.
Each of the team's first four games of the year have been decided by double figures, two wins and two losses. The numbers match in almost all categories with the exception of three-point shooting where the team has made 23 percent from beyond the arc Zarycki has made half of the team's 16 trifectas with the rest of the roster shooting 15 percent from deep.
Both affairs will air on cneagles.com/live starting 15 minutes before tip with "The AEC Countdown to Tip-Off" as both affairs can be heard on Mountain Talk 106.3 FM and cneagles.com/live with coverage from the Eagle Sports Network.
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