| Elon Phoenix (10-6, 2-3 CAA) vs. Towson (7-10, 2-4 CAA) |
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ELON, N.C. – Following a brief two-game road trip that saw Elon University women's basketball fall by a combined nine points to a pair of the CAA's top programs in the preseason poll, the Phoenix returns home this weekend and opens a two-game homestand Friday night, Jan. 19, by welcoming Towson to Alumni Gym. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. The game will air on Phoenix All-Access and can be heard on WSOE 89.3 FM with Riley Beal and Tom Castle on the call.
THE SERIES
The Phoenix owns a 5-1 record all-time against Towson after sweeping the two meetings last season. Last year's meetings were two very different contests with Elon earning a 28-point win (83-55) at home on Feb. 3 and a two-point (67-65) victory on the road thanks to a
Shay Burnett layup in the closing seconds. Towson has never won in three games inside Alumni Gym.
ABOUT TOWSON
Led by first-year bench boss Diane Richardson, Towson enters Friday's game a winner of two of its last three games. Each of Towson's last three games have been decided by a combined four points. Its two wins during the stretch came on the road, a 67-66 win over William & Mary, and at home in a 72-71 win over UNCW. The loss last time out came at Delaware, a 51-49 defeat in Newark. Mary Cuevas makes Towson go in averaging team bests with 14.2, points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting .520 from the floor.
LAST TIME OUT
Elon cut a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter to as few as three on multiple occasions, but the deficit proved too tall a task in the 81-75 loss Sunday, Jan. 14, at William & Mary.
Ra'Shika White notched her second-straight double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. She also hit 10 free throws for the second consecutive outing.
Shay Burnett led Elon's offensive effort with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-15 from the floor.
Malaya Johnson also scored in double figures for the first time since Elon's non-conference finale against NC Central and
Jada Graves added 11 points. The loss to the Tribe marked the first in eight games since Elon joined the CAA before the 2014-15 season.
WHITE HOT
Over the course of the last eight games,
Ra'Shika White is averaging 18.6 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per contest. She has reached 20 points on four occasions during the run, which was highlighted by her 23-point performance in the loss against Delaware. The Charlotte, N.C., native is now averaging a team-high 16.1 points per game to go with 7.4 rebounds per outing.
TOPS IN THE COUNTRY
With 5.9 assists per game,
Shay Burnett ranks 27th in the nation. Her 88 total assists are the 52nd-most in the country. As a team, Elon's +10.6 rebounding margin is seventh-best in the country. Its 44.5 boards per contest is 13th-best and its 19.5 turnovers forced per outing ranks 46th. Elon has reached the free throw line 386 times this season, which ranks it the 19th-most frequent visitor to the charity stripe in the country. It's .684 percentage, though, checks in at No. 206 of 345 teams nationally.
#MALAYA1K
Malaya Johnson is 28 points away from becoming the 24th player in program history to reach the 1,000-career point mark, sitting on 972 in her career in maroon and gold. The senior is seeking to become the fourth player in the last two seasons to reach 1,000 points after Lauren Brown,
Shay Burnett and Jenifer Rhodes each reached the milestone in 2016-17.
DEFENSIVE GOALS
Elon aims to keep its opponents under 40 percent from the field in any given game. Only once during non-conference play did a team shoot above 39 percent (Iowa, 44.9). In CAA play, all five of Elon's opponents thus far have shot at least 39.3 percent from the field with UNCW at 39.3, Delaware at 50.9, Northeastern at 39.7, James Madison at 42.9 and William & Mary at 48.4.
WE'RE NOT USED TO THIS
Since the start of the 2016-17 campaign, Elon had lost back-to-back games just once up to this point, when it lost three in a row to ACC foes Wake Forest (Nov. 26), North Carolina (Dec. 4) and Duke (Dec. 8). With back-to-back losses to CAA foes in the last two games, it marks the first time since Jan. 15 at Towson and Jan. 17 at Drexel during the 2015-16 season the Phoenix has lost consecutive games against conference opponents.
CAA WEEKLY AWARDS
Following a strong opening night,
Ra'Shika White 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.
Saadia Munford earned Elon's first CAA Rookie of the Week honor of the season on Tuesday, Dec. 26, after scoring six points to go with a career-best 10 assists in a 28-point win over NC Central on Tuesday, Dec. 19. The Atlanta native scored or assisted on 28 points in the victory.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
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).
PRESEASON EXPECTATIONS
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.
HOME SWEET ALUMNI GYM
Since
Charlotte Smith took over the program in 2011-12, Elon has posted a 69-20 record in Alumni Gym and 6-0 this season. 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. Since the loss to JMU, the Phoenix has won 11 in a row in Alumni Gym.
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S HOOPS AT HOME
This season, Elon men's and women's basketball are a combined 13-1 in Alumni Gym. The women's team (6-0) has defeated Winthrop, Hampton, Coker, NC Central, UNCW and Northeastern. The men's program (7-1) has topped William Peace, Radford, South Florida, Saint Peter's, Drexel, Towson and College of Charleston. Before Elon's men lost Jan. 11 to UNCW, it was one of six schools in the country with unbeaten men's and women's teams at home. Others included Duke, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Stephen F. Austin and Morgan State.
UP NEXT
Remaining home in Alumni Gym, the Phoenix will welcome Delaware for a rematch of the Jan. 5 contest inside the Bob Carpenter Center when Elon fell 80-66 to the Blue Hens. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and the team will host Alumni Day, where it will honor multiple former players that donned maroon and gold.
--ELON--
