| Elon Phoenix (13-7, 5-4 CAA) at College of Charleston (5-16, 1-9 CAA) |
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ELON, N.C. – Coming off its first CAA road win of the season last time out at Towson, Elon University women's basketball will look to build on the victory when it visits College of Charleston on Friday, Feb. 2, at 6:30 p.m. inside TD Arena. Closing out a three-game road trip before coming home for three in a row, the Phoenix and Cougars will go to battle on CAA.tv and the game can be heard on WSOE 89.3 FM and Phoenix All-Access with David Flynt and Matthew Holzapfel calling the action.
THE SERIES
With both program formerly members of the Southern Conference, Elon and Charleston have met 29 times to date with Elon taking 15 victories to CofC's 14. While the overall series is nearly even, Elon has dominated the last 12 games with an 11-1 record. Phoenix head coach
Charlotte Smith is 9-1 against the Cougars in her career.
ABOUT COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
College of Charleston has lost eight games in a row since beating Towson 80-67 on the road on New Year's Eve. The Cougars are 5-16 overall with wins coming over Lipscomb, Coastal Carolina, North Florida, Wofford and Towson. Tanisha Brown is the only Cougar averaging double figures with 12.2 points per game. She also leads Charleston with 8.1 rebounds per contest and 0.6 blocks per outing. Shiclasia Brown paces CofC with 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 35.5 minutes per game. College of Charleston is led by fourth-year head coach Candice M. Jackson. She is 30-82 in three-plus seasons with the Cougars.
LAST TIME OUT
Elon used a 17-point advantage in the second quarter on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 28, at Towson and extended the lead to as many as 27 in the fourth quarter on the way to a convincing 71-45 win inside SECU Arena. All square at 14 after one quarter, Elon made its move with a 24-7 second, which included a 15-1 run in the first six minutes to open the frame.
Shay Burnett led Elon with 21 points.
Ra'Shika White reached double figures for the 11th time in 12 games with 14 points.
#MALAYA1K
Malaya Johnson became the 24th player in program history to reach the 1,000-career point club on Sunday, Jan. 21, when she scored 16 points and had 13 rebounds against Delaware. The senior is 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.
GOOD VIBES IN CHARLESTON
As a freshman in 2016-17,
Jada Graves had her strongest CAA game on the road against College of Charleston when she had 12 points in 24 minutes off the bench. She hit 2-of-3 shots from the floor, but did most of her damage at the free throw line by hitting 8-of-10 at the stripe to go with three steals and two
assists in Elon's 84-56 road win over the Cougars. The sophomore from Alexandria, Va., is averaging 2.5 steals per game this season and has 48 on the year, which is the second-most in the CAA.
TOPS IN THE COUNTRY
With 5.9 assists per game,
Shay Burnett ranks 23rd in the nation. Her 113 total assists are the 32nd-most in the country. As a team, Elon's +8.4 rebounding margin is 24th-best in the country. Its 43.2 boards per contest is 23rd-best and its 19.7 turnovers forced per outing ranks 34th. Elon has reached the free throw line 471 times this season, which ranks it the 10th-most frequent visitor to the charity stripe in the country. It's .696 percentage, though, checks in at No. 170 of 349 teams nationally.
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, each of Elon's first five opponents shot at least 39.3 percent from the field with Delaware's 50.9 leading the way on Jan. 5. But each of its last four have been under 38.5 percent.
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.
Malaya Johnson earned Elon's second CAA Player of the Week award on Jan. 22 when she scored 16 points against Towson and Delaware and had a double-double with 13 points against the Blue Hens while surpassing the 1,000-career point mark in the process.
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. She then collected another Rookie of the Week award Jan. 22 after a strong overall weekend in two wins over Towson and Delaware.
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 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.
HOME SWEET ALUMNI GYM
Since
Charlotte Smith took over the program in 2011-12, Elon has posted a 71-20 record in Alumni Gym and 8-0 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 13 in a row in Alumni Gym.
PRACTICE WITH THE COMMISH
As part of the #JoeyDvsCAAChamps series, CAA commissioner Joe D'Antonio practiced with the team Wednesday, Jan. 24, in Alumni Gym. Commissioner D'Antonio joined Elon for the 90-minute practice, running drills throughout before finishing the morning with free throw practice. To close, he hit five free throws in a row.
UP NEXT
Elon will return home for the first time in two weeks for a Sunday afternoon, Feb. 4, matchup against the CAA's lone unbeaten team in James Madison. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. JMU enters the weekend at 9-0 in conference play and will battle William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., on Friday night before visiting Alumni Gym. Last month, Elon went to the JMU Convocation Center and came out on the short end of a 70-67 battle that was neck and neck throughout the evening.
--ELON--
