Full Schedule

ELON, N.C. – Elon University first-year head women’s basketball coach Charlotte Smith has announced the Phoenix’s 2011-12 schedule, which begins with a home game on Saturday, Nov. 12, against Virginia Union. The Phoenix opens Southern Conference play at home on Dec. 3 versus Chattanooga.
 
"I feel like we put together a very challenging non-conference schedule this upcoming season that will definitely prepare us for Southern Conference play, which is always very competitive," Smith said. "It is a great opportunity for our program to play a nationally ranked team in West Virginia, as well as several other quality non-conference teams like Virginia, UMass, East Carolina and Charlotte. Overall, we're very excited about this upcoming season and opening up inside Alumni Gym on November 12."

Elon’s first two games of the season will be played at home in Alumni Gym, as the Phoenix hosts the Virginia Intermont Lady Cobras on Friday night, Nov. 18. Last season, Elon and Virginia Intermont met on Nov. 23 and the Phoenix came away with an 80-55 victory.

A day later, Elon makes the trek to Charlotte, N.C., for a key non-conference matchup against the Charlotte 49ers of the Atlantic 10 Conference. This season will mark the first meeting between Elon and Charlotte since the 1980-81 season when the two squads met on three occasions.

The Phoenix will get its first taste of tournament play just after Thanksgiving on Nov. 26-27 when the team heads to Greenville, N.C., for the East Carolina Thanksgiving Tournament. Elon will take on tournament host ECU on Saturday, Nov. 26, before facing Robert Morris a day later. The Phoenix and the Pirates have not met since 1998, while the team’s game versus Robert Morris is the first meeting between the two schools.

Elon will play its second tournament of the season on Dec. 28-29 when it heads to Charlottesville, Va., for the 2011 Marriott Cavalier Classic hosted by the University of Virginia. The Phoenix takes on UMass at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 28 before taking on either Virginia or Wagner a day later in the championship/consolation.

The Phoenix closes out its non-conference schedule on Dec. 31 with a New Year’s Eve tilt against the West Virginia Mountaineers inside the historic WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers made it to the field of 32 in last year’s NCAA Tournament before falling to top-seeded Baylor, who lost in the Elite Eight.

Elon opens up SoCon play at home on Saturday. Dec. 3, when it hosts Chattanooga at 7 p.m. Two days later on Monday night, Dec. 5, the Phoenix welcomes defending SoCon Tournament champion Samford to Alumni Gym for a 7 p.m. matchup. Elon split both regular-season meetings versus the Lady Mocs and Bulldogs last season.

The Phoenix heads to the state of South Carolina for its first two SoCon road games of the season on Dec. 17 and 19 when it takes on Furman and Wofford. Elon claimed wins in all four regular-season meetings last season versus the Paladins and Terriers and topped Furman in the opening round of the SoCon Tournament as well.
 
Following a mid-week contest at Davidson on Jan. 4 – the team’s first game of the 2012 calendar year – Elon returns home to the friendly confines of Alumni Gym on Saturday, Jan. 7, for a 2 p.m. matinee against conference rival Appalachian State.
 
After a Jan. 23 meeting versus instate conference rival UNCG, the Phoenix has a tough road test when it takes on Samford and Chattanooga on Jan. 28 and 30, respectively. Elon won both regular-season meetings at Samford and Chattanooga last year, as Elon’s win over the Lady Mocs on the road marked the program’s first in eight tries in Chattanooga.

Elon will face another tough road stretch in mid-February, as the Phoenix plays at Appalachian State on Feb. 13 before contests at Georgia Southern and College of Charleston on Feb. 18 and 20, respectively.

The Phoenix closes out the regular season at home on Monday night, Feb. 27, when the team welcomes Western Carolina to Alumni Gym for Senior Night.
 
The 2012 SoCon Tournament has a new, but familiar, home this season, as the tournament shifts to Kimmel Arena in Asheville, N.C., March 2-5. The championship game is slated for Monday, March 5, at 4:30 p.m. in the Asheville Civic Center. Asheville was the site of the SoCon men’s basketball tournament from 1984-95.