| Elon Phoenix (5-1) vs. Coker Cobras (2-3) |
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ELON, N.C. – Following a 2-1 road trip in the state of Florida against UCF, Alabama and Iowa, Elon University women's basketball returns home Monday night, Nov. 27, for a 7 p.m. tip against Division II-foe Coker College in Alumni Gym.
THE SERIES
Monday's game marks the first-ever meeting between Elon and Coker.
ABOUT COKER
Erin Houser's 9.0 points and Janea Williams' 10.0 rebounds per game leads Coker this season, which stands at 2-3 to date with wins over Belmont Abbey and Fayetteville State. In two exhibitions against Division I opponents, Coker dropped a 116-56 game to defending national champion South Carolina in Columbia and a 78-47 decision to Charlotte in North Carolina's Queen City. Monday night's game will go down as an exhibition for Coker while it's a regular-season game for the Phoenix.
LAST TIME OUT
The Phoenix took its first loss of the season Saturday, Nov. 25, in the Puerto Rico Clasico finale in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., with a 74-61 loss to 7-0 Iowa. Though falling by 13, Elon outrebounded the Hawkeyes 48-47 and pulled down 24 offensive rebounds. It also made more free throws (12) in the game than Iowa attempted (11). Ra'Shika White led Elon with 14 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the year.
Shay Burnett also scored 13 points to go with nine rebounds and
Meme Garner added a season-high 12 points.
EARLY-SEASON AWARD
Following a strong opening night, Whte was named the first CAA Player of the Week on Monday, Nov. 13. The sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., poured in 29 points on 12-of-17 from the floor while pulling down eight rebounds. The award followed two Rookie of the Week awards earned during her freshman campaign in 2016-17.
PERFECT STARTS
Elon's 5-0 start before the loss to Iowa marks the fourth time in program history Elon started perfect through five games. It also stands as the first time as a Division I program the Phoenix opened a campaign 5-0. The perfect five-game start was the first time Elon opened a campaign with that many consecutive wins since winning six in a row to start the 1995-96 season.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES
Shay Burnett was tabbed the 2017-18 CAA Preseason Player of the Year by the league's head coaches on Oct. 19. She was also picked as a First Team All-CAA honoree and was joined by
Malaya Johnson earning Second Team All-CAA laurels. The defending champion Phoenix was selected second in the CAA this season, picking up 74 points in the poll and three first-place votes. James Madison was picked to take the crown with six first-place votes and 78 points. Drexel received the 10th and final first-place vote, but was picked to finish fourth behind William & Mary.
YOUNG BLOOD
In 2017-18, Elon has the sixth-youngest roster in the nation with 75 percent of its players freshmen or sophomores. The roster rounds out with just three seniors and zero juniors. On a national scale, UNCG checks in with a roster comprised of 87.5 percent freshmen and sophomores to rank as the youngest squad in the country. It is followed by Florida International (80 percent), San Jose State (80 percent), Utah State (76.9 percent) and Air Force (76.5 percent).
EYES ON THE TOP 25
In the USA TODAY Coaches poll this this week, Elon received two votes. It is tied for 43rd with Washington, Indiana and Rutgers. In the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major poll, Elon is No. 6. It is the top-ranked CAA team in the poll. Last year, Elon garnered as many as four votes in the USA TODAY poll entering the postseason and finished the year with two. Elon also finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 3 in the mid-major rankings behind Quinnipiac and Drake. New national polls will come out Monday and Tuesday while the new mid-major poll will be released Tuesday.
HOME SWEET ALUMNI GYM
Since
Charlotte Smith took over the program in 2011-12, Elon has posted a 65-20 record in Alumni Gym. Last year, the Phoenix went 11-2 at home. It has not lost more than five games in Alumni Gym in a season under Smith and has won at least 10 in all six seasons to date she's led the program. Elon's only home losses last year came in a 76-70 defeat to James Madison on Jan. 20 and a Nov. 26 loss to ACC-foe Wake Forest, 78-68.
LOOKING BACK AT 2016-17
Elon earned the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season and tournament championships in 2016-17, marking the first Division I conference championships in program history. To cap the regular season, Elon defeated UNCW 82-48 at home to claim the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. At the CAA Championships, Elon took down all three of its opponents in convincing fashion on the way to punching its first-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament. As an 11-seed, Elon battled sixth-seeded West Virginia to the end, but the Mountaineers pulled away late in the fourth quarter for a 75-62 win in College Park, Md.
20-GAME WINNERS
With 27 victories last season, it marked just the second time Elon has reached the 20-win mark as a Division I program. Last time Elon reached 20 wins was in 2010-11, when the Phoenix finished 20-13 and made its first Division I postseason tournament appearance in the WBI.
MADE IT LOOK EASY
In the CAA Tournament last season, Elon defeated its opponents by an average of 24.7 points, defeating Hofstra in the quarterfinals by 28 (78-50), William & Mary in the semifinals by 28 (88-60) and James Madison in the finals by 18 (78-60). Elon shot 54.1 percent from the floor, hitting 91-of-168 shots it took across the three games. The Phoenix's 56.1 field goal percentage against William & Mary was the highest single-game percentage of the season. The stellar performance was the third-highest among the 32 conference champions and sat behind only UConn's 58.4 percent (104-178) in the AAC Tournament and Maryland's 54.6 percent (101-185) in the Big Ten Tournament.
UP NEXT
The Phoenix will open the month of December with three road games in a row, starting Saturday, Dec. 2, with a 12 noon tip at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Demon Deacons stand at 2-4 on the year with home wins over Texas Southern and Richmond. It has lost to Seton Hall, Rutgers, Minnesota and most recently Elon's fellow CAA member Hofstra on Sunday, Nov. 26, all away from LJVM Coliseum.
--ELON--
