| Elon Phoenix (20-7, 12-4 CAA) vs. William & Mary Tribe (16-11, 7-9 CAA) |
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ELON, N.C. – Set to take the floor for the final time in Alumni Gym, Elon University women's basketball will welcome William & Mary on Thursday, March 1, for a 7 p.m. game. The game is the last regularly scheduled game for Elon basketball on both the men's and women's side. Both programs, as well as the Phoenix volleyball team, will hold home events in Schar Center starting in 2018-19.
FAREWELL TO ALUMNI GYM
After playing its home games in Alumni Gym since the start of the program in 1972, Elon will host the final event Thursday night and will welcome back former players from years and decades past. At halftime, Elon will recognize those former women's basketball alums from each decade of Alumni Gym dating back to the inception of the program in 1971-72. Additionally, free vintage t-shirts to commemorate Alumni Gym will be given out to the first 100 Elon University students in attendance. Before the game, a cappella group Vital Signs will perform the Star Spangled Banner.
THE SERIES
Elon leads the all-time series 8-4, but William & Mary picked up its first win with the two CAA opponents last time out on Jan. 14 when the Tribe won 81-75 in Williamsburg, Va. Jenna Green paced William & Mary with 14 points and 12 assists while Bianca Boggs finished with a team-high 20 points. Elon was led by
Shay Burnett's 22 points while
Malaya Johnson and Ra'Shika White both added 16, but it wasn't enough as William & Mary ended a seven-game losing skid against the Phoenix going back to 2015.
ABOUT WILLIAM & MARY
William & Mary has won 16 games this season, which is tied for the fourth most in school history. With a guaranteed winning season this year, it is the second straight for the first time since 2005-06 and 2006-07. Abby Rendle is the CAA's all-time leader in blocks with 345, which includes 123 this year alone. Last month, she became the 19th player in Tribe history to reach 1,000 points. Jenna Green makes the Tribe go with 165 assists this season, which is 22nd in the NCAA.
LAST TIME OUT
Elon shot above 52 percent for the third time in four games Sunday, Feb. 25, in an 80-55 win on Senior Day in Alumni Gym against Hofstra. Elon's three seniors -
Malaya Johnson (17),
Shay Burnett (12) and
Meme Garner (7) - combined for 36 points.
Jada Graves also reached double figures with 10 points, marking the sixth double-figure game this year for the sophomore from Alexandria, Va.
WHAT'S ON THE LINE?
-With one victory against William & Mary or UNCW this weekend, Elon would definitively lock itself into the No. 3 seed for next week's CAA Tournament in Philadelphia. Even with two losses and two Delaware wins this weekend, Elon would still be the No. 3 seed based on tiebreaker thanks to its Feb. 4 win over James Madison.
-Should Elon be the No. 3 seed, it would take on the No. 6 seed in the CAA Quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 8. An advancing Phoenix team would then go up against the winner of the No. 2 vs. No. 7/10 game in the CAA Semifinals on Friday, March 9, at 5:30 p.m. with the winner reaching the CAA Finals on Saturday, March 10, at 1 p.m.
-The 2018 CAA Tournament bracket will be released after conclusion of play on Saturday, March 3.
DEFENSE WINS...
In the last 11 games, Elon's defense has been as strong as ever in allowing just 52.8 points per game going back to Jan. 19 against Towson. During the run, Elon is 10-1 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).
17 AND COUNTING
Riding a 17-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 75-20 in Alumni Gym since
Charlotte Smith took over before the 2011-12 season and is 12-0 this year. Elon has not lost more than five games at home in a season under Smith and has won at least 10 in all seven seasons she's led the program. Elon's last home loss came Jan. 20, 2017, in a 76-70 loss to James Madison. In the last two seasons, Elon is 23-2 in Alumni Gym with the other loss a 10-point defeat against Wake Forest.
TOPS IN THE COUNTRY
As a team, Elon's +8.5 rebounding margin is 18th-best in the country. Its 42.9 boards per contest is 14th, its 1,159 total boards is 55th 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 12th-best mark in the country.
-Elon has reached the free throw line 603 times this season, which ranks it the 22nd-most frequent visitor to the charity stripe in the country and the 413 makes is 35th-most nationally. It's .685 percentage, though, checks in at No. 223 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. 20 this week in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll after standing at No. 24 each of the previous two weeks. On Friday, Feb. 23, Elon cracked the Top 50 in the NCAA RPI for the first time this season and improved to No. 47 as recently as Wednesday, Feb. 28. Elon ranks as the highest CAA team in the RPI.
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
Closing the regular season on the road, Elon will visit UNCW on Saturday, March 3, at 2 p.m. Elon beat UNCW in the first CAA game of the year back on Dec. 29, 2017, in Alumni Gym. The Seahawks are led by for Elon boss Karen Barefoot. She is in her first season at UNCW after spending six years at Old Dominion and three with the Phoenix.
--ELON--
