| Elon Phoenix (15-7, 7-4 CAA) vs. Drexel Dragons (18-5, 10-1 CAA) |
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ELON, N.C. – Set to welcome its second-straight first-place CAA team to Alumni Gym, Elon University women's basketball will take on Drexel on Friday night, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. The Phoenix and Dragons will go at it on Phoenix All-Access and the game can be heard on WSOE 89.3 FM with Jake Young and David Flynt on the call.
THE SERIES
The Dragons claimed each of the first four meetings in the series, but Elon swept last year's series to cut Drexel's series lead in half. DU scratched out a 58-56 win in Philadelphia two weeks ago when the two teams met inside the Daskalaskis Athletic Center, home of the 2018 CAA Women's Basketball Tournament, to take a 5-2 lead in the all-time series. Last season, Elon beat Drexel 75-65 in Alumni Gym. The win marked
Charlotte Smith's 100th as a head coach.
ABOUT DREXEL
Drexel is on a roll having won eight in a row since it lost in its third CAA game of the year back on Jan. 7 at James Madison. During the run, the Dragons are averaging 66.8 points per game while allowing just 52.1. Last weekend against Towson and College of Charleston, Drexel averaged 79 points per game while both opponents only managed 53. Bailey Greenberg leads Drexel with 11.5 points, but five players average at least 8.2 points per game. Back-to-back CAA Rookie of the Week Hannah Nihill also averages 6.2 points per game and has upped that number to 8.7 per outing in the last four games.
LAST TIME OUT
Elon put together its best start to a game this season in jumping on James Madison 19-3 out of the gate on the way to a 50-43 victory, the first over the Dukes at home in program history. The Phoenix held JMU to 21.4 percent shooting, which is the best defensive performance by a Phoenix team under
Charlotte Smith to date. Elon's previous best defensive performance against a Division I opponent came when it held Western Carolina to 20.4 percent from the floor on 11-of-54 shooting in a 76-49 home win over the Catamounts on Jan. 29, 2011. From a JMU perspective, 21.4 percent is the lowest mark for the Dukes since Jan. 25, 2004, against Hofstra. James Madison was unbeaten in CAA play entering the game, but now stands at 10-1 and is tied with 10-1 Drexel for first place.
FREE PIZZA FEBRUARY
Driven by Thomas Tire & Automotive, Elon students in attendance at all Phoenix men's and women's home games will get free pizza at the student entrance to Alumni Gym. This month, the men's team has two more scheduled home games and the women four against some of the conference's best competition. Crust us, you don't want to miss this.
WHO TO WATCH AGAINST THE DRAGONS
Malaya Johnson had her highest point total of the season Elon met Drexel Jan. 26 in Philadelphia. The senior scored 20 points on 10-of-13 from the floor to go with seven rebounds and two assists. In seven games to date against Drexel, Johnson averages 9.3 points per game with 5.4 rebounds per contest. She has won two of the last three CAA Player of the Week awards.
DEFENSE WINS...
In the last six games, Elon's defense has been as strong as ever in allowing just 52.2 points per game going back to Jan. 19 against Towson. During the run, Elon is 5-1 with the lone loss a 58-56 defeat at first-place 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 allowing 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).
14 AND COUNTING
Riding a 14-game winning streak in Alumni Gym, it marks the longest unbeaten run at home in Elon's Division I history. The current streak started last season on Feb. 3, 2017, with an 83-55 win over Towson. Before that, Elon had seven 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 72-20 in Alumni Gym since
Charlotte Smith took over before the 2011-12 season and is 9-0 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 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 +7.7 rebounding margin is 26th-best in the country. Its 43.2 boards per contest is 20th, its 951 total boards is 20th and its 19.7 turnovers forced per outing ranks 36th. Allowing opponents to shoot 36.1 percent from the floor this season, that ranks as the 19th-best mark in the country. Elon has reached the free throw line 505 times this season, which ranks it the 12th-most frequent visitor to the charity stripe in the country and the 349 makes is 15th-most nationally. It's .691 percentage, though, checks in at No. 191 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.
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
The Phoenix will close a three-game homestand with the annual Play4Kay Game on Sunday, Feb. 11, at 2 p.m. against College of Charleston. Elon defeated College of Charleston last Friday, Feb. 2, by the score of 77-55 in TD Arena. After Friday night's game against Drexel, Elon has just three home games remaining in Alumni Gym before it moves to Schar Center in 2018-19.
--ELON--
