| Elon Phoenix (17-7, 9-4 CAA) at Hofstra Pride (10-14, 4-9 CAA) |
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ELON, N.C. – With a CAA-long five-game winning streak in tow, Elon University women's basketball will meet Hofstra on Friday night, Feb. 16, for the first of two games against the Pride in a span of 10 days. Friday's game tips at 7 p.m. inside the Mack Sports Complex and can be seen on CAA.tv. Fans can also listen in on WSOE 89.3 FM and Phoenix All-Access with Mason Stalph and Jake Young on the call.
THE SERIES
Elon owns a 5-2 advantage in the all-time series against the Pride. The Phoenix won all three meetings last season, which included a 78-50 route in the CAA Quarterfinals in Harrisonburg, Va., where Elon shot 52.6 percent from the floor.
ABOUT HOFSTRA
Hofstra has struggled of late having lost six games in a row with its last win coming Friday, Jan. 19, against William & Mary. Michigan transfer Boogie Brozoski leads the Pride with 12.2 points per game this season. She is also leading the team with 4.2 assists per outing. Ashunae Durant still leads the team with 8.9 rebounds per contest, though Durant has not played for the Pride since Jan. 21 in a loss to Drexel. a stretch of five games.
WHO TO WATCH AGAINST THE PRIDE
In the two regular-season games last year,
Malaya Johnson averaged 12 points per game while pulling down six rebounds per contest against the Pride. In Hempstead, she finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 from the floor to go with five rebounds. For her career, Johnson is averaging 9.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game against the Pride.
LAST TIME OUT
Elon set a program record for the largest conference victory Sunday afternoon with a 97-44, 53-point victory over College of Charleston. Five players scored in double figures with
Jaylin Powell and
Shay Burnett both scoring a team-best 15 points.
Ra'Shika White added 13 points and
Lexi Mercer and
Malaya Johnson both had 10 points apiece. The Phoenix shot 55.7 percent from the floor, the best shooting percentage in a game this season against a Division I opponent. It also held the Cougars to 25.8 percent, which is the third-lowest shooting percentage by a Phoenix opponent this season.
NOTES AFTER OUR LAST GAME
-The Phoenix is now alone in third place in the CAA standings at 9-4. James Madison is at the top at 12-1 and Drexel stands second at 11-2. Though Elon has a game in hand, Delaware is fourth with an 8-4 mark and William & Mary and Northeastern are tied for fifth at 7-6. With five games to play, one win would guarantee Elon at least a Top 6 finish and a first-round bye in the CAA Tournament with seventh-place Hofstra and Towson both at 4-9 in conference play.
-Elon outrebounded Charleston 54-34, giving the Phoenix a 101-62 (+39) rebounding margin for the weekend against the Cougars and Drexel after dominating the Dragons 47-28.
-Elon has now won seven of its last eight and is averaging 71.1 points per game while allowing just 51.9 points per contest during the run.
-In the last four games, Elon has held all four opponents to less than 17 percent shooting in a quarter. The Phoenix held Charleston to 15.4 percent in the second quarter on Feb. 2, held James Madison to 15.4 percent in the fourth quarter on Feb. 4, held Drexel to 16.7 percent in the first quarter on Feb. 9 and held Charleston to 15.0 percent in the first quarter on Sunday.
-Elon limited Charleston to just 20.6 percent from the floor in the first half, which is the third-lowest by a Phoenix opponent this season. Charleston's 25.8 percent for the game is the third-lowest for an Elon opponent this season, too.
DEFENSE WINS...
In the last eight games, Elon's defense has been as strong as ever in allowing just 51.9 points per game going back to Jan. 19 against Towson. During the run, Elon is 7-1 with the lone loss a 58-56 defeat at Drexel on Jan. 26. Each of Elon's first five CAA opponents all shot at least 39.3 percent with Delaware's 50.9 on Jan. 5 the highest. During that stretch, Elon was 2-3 and allowed 73.8 points per game. 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).
16 AND COUNTING
Riding a 16-game winning streak in Alumni Gym, it marks the longest unbeaten run at home in Elon's D-I history. The current streak started Feb. 3, 2017, with an 83-55 win over Towson. Before that, Elon had seven D-I streaks reach five in a row with a pair hitting 11 (Nov. 26, 2002 to Feb. 15, 2003 and Dec. 13, 2012 to March 20, 2013). Under
Charlotte Smith, Elon has won at least five in a row at home four times.
HOME SWEET ALUMNI GYM
Elon is 74-20 in Alumni Gym since
Charlotte Smith took over before the 2011-12 season and is 11-0 this year. Last year, the Phoenix went 11-2 at home. Elon has not lost more than five games at home in a season under Smith and has won at least 10 in all six seasons she's led the program. Elon's last home loss came Jan. 20, 2017, in a 76-70 loss to James Madison. The other home loss last season was a 10-point defeat on Nov. 26 against ACC-foe Wake Forest, 78-68.
TOPS IN THE COUNTRY
As a team, Elon's +8.8 rebounding margin is 16th-best in the country. Its 43.8 boards per contest is 12th, its 1,052 total boards is 29th and its 19.1 turnovers forced per outing ranks 48th. Allowing opponents to shoot 35.6 percent from the floor this season, that ranks as the 17th-best mark in the country. Elon has reached the free throw line 550 times this season, which ranks it the 14th-most frequent visitor to the charity stripe in the country and the 379 makes is 17th-most nationally. It's .689 percentage, though, checks in at No. 197 of 349 teams.
#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.
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. The senior picked up her second award in three weeks when she again claimed the honor on Monday, Feb. 5, after averaging 15.0 points per game in two wins over James Madison and College of Charleston.
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.
Jaylin Powell won Elon's third CAA Rookie of the Week award on Feb. 12 after scoring a season-high 15 points on 5-of-6 from the floor in Elon's big Play4Kay Game win over College of Charleston on Feb. 11.
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.
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 go further north to visit Northeastern on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. in Boston. The Phoenix beat Northeastern back on Jan. 7 in Alumni Gym by the final score of 78-71.
--ELON--
