| Elon Phoenix (19-7, 11-4 CAA) vs. Hofstra Pride (11-16, 5-11 CAA) |
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ELON, N.C. – Returning from a two-game road trip, Elon University women's basketball will welcome Hofstra for the second game against the Pride in 11 days on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 2 p.m. Before the game, Elon will honor its three seniors -
Malaya Johnson,
Shay Burnett and
Meme Garner - as well as senior managers in a Senior Day ceremony. The game can be seen on Phoenix All-Access and it will air on WSOE 89.3 FM locally in Burlington.
THE SERIES
Elon owns a 6-2 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. Last week, Elon led 23-5 after one quarter in New York but Hofstra fought its way back to within as few as five before Elon pulled out the 72-65 win. In the game, Elon shot better than 40 percent in all four quarters and hit 47.1 percent for the game.
ABOUT HOFSTRA
The Pride has lost eight of its last nine games entering Sunday afternoon's meeting in Alumni Gym. Michigan transfer Boogie Brozoski leads the Pride with 12.4 points per game this season. She is also leading the team with 3.9 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. The Pride played Friday night at home and lost 55-50 to Northeastern.
LAST TIME OUT
The Phoenix shot 60 percent from the floor Sunday afternoon, Feb. 18, in a 65-46 victory at Northeastern. Hitting 27-of-45 from the field, the percentage is the third-best in a game in Elon's Division I history with the only two games better a record 63.3 percent on 31-for-49 against Winston-Salem State on Dec. 13, 2007, and 60.8 at Campbell on Nov. 30, 2006, when Elon shot 31-of-51 from the floor.
Malaya Johnson matched her season high with 20 points on 10-of-12 from the floor and
Shay Burnett had eight points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
WHAT'S ON THE LINE?
-With a win, Elon would reach 20 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time as a Division I program and just the second time in program history. The 1979-80 and 1980-81 teams won 25 and 29 games, respectively, under Mary Jackson.
-Should Elon reach 20 wins, it would be the seventh 20-win season in program history.
-A win would also give Elon 50 in CAA play to date. Only James Madison (63) and Drexel (51) have more since Elon joined the CAA before the 2014-15 season.
DEFENSE WINS...
In the last 10 games, Elon's defense has been as strong as ever in allowing just 52.6 points per game going back to Jan. 19 against Towson. During the run, Elon is 9-1 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 +8.5 rebounding margin is 18th-best in the country. Its 43.0 boards per contest is 16th, its 1,089 total boards is 50th and its 19.1 turnovers forced per outing ranks 44th. Allowing opponents to shoot 35.5 percent from the floor this season, that ranks as the 14th-best mark in the country. Elon has reached the free throw line 586 times this season, which ranks it the 18th-most frequent visitor to the charity stripe in the country and the 401 makes is 30th-most nationally. It's .684 percentage, though, checks in at No. 220 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.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
Elon is No. 24 for the second week in a row in the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major poll. On Friday, Feb. 23, Elon cracked the Top 50 in the NCAA RPI for the first time this season. It ranks as the highest team in RPI in the CAA.
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
Set to close its historic run in Alumni Gym, Elon will play the final regular season game - men's or women's - in the building on Thursday, March 1, at 7 p.m. against William & Mary. For more about the celebration of Alumni Gym, click
here.
--ELON--
