| No. 3 Elon (22-7, 14-4 CAA) vs. No. 6 William & Mary (16-13, 7-11 CAA) |
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ELON, N.C. – For the second time in seven days, Elon University women's basketball will meet William & Mary, this time in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament on Thursday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. inside the Daskalakis Athletic Center on the campus of Drexel University. The game will be streamed live on CAA.tv and it can be heard over the airwaves on WSOE 89.3 FM and Phoenix All-Access with Mason Stalph and Jake Young calling the action.
THE SERIES
Elon leads the all-time series 9-4 and has won eight of the nine meetings since the two teams became CAA rivals before the 2014-15 season. Last week, Elon beat William & Mary 82-61 last week in the final game in Alumni Gym.
Shay Burnett recorded a triple-double with 13 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds in the win. The two split the series this year with the Tribe winning 81-75 on Jan. 14 in Virginia.
ABOUT WILLIAM & MARY
The Tribe had one of the toughest closing stretches to conference play by finishing the season against four of the top five teams in the league in Drexel (54-34 loss), Delaware (loss 61-52), Elon (loss 82-61) and James Madison (70-64). Three of those four games were on the road, but William & Mary has lost each of its last five and seven of its last nine. The Tribe is led by First Team All-CAA honoree Bianca Boggs' 15.6 points per game. Third Team All-CAA honoree Abby Rendle leads the team with 4.4 blocks per game and Jenna Green averages 5.9 assists per outing.
LAST TIME OUT
On the road with its seed already a lock, Elon defeated UNCW 58-49 for its 10th consecutive win to set a new Division I program record for most victories in a row.
Malaya Johnson led the Phoenix with 16 points on 7-of-8 from the floor while
Meme Garner added 13 and
Shay Burnett 11 points with eight rebounds and seven assists.
WHAT'S ON THE LINE?
With a win, Elon would move on to the semifinals against No. 2 JMU or No. 10 Charleston. The Dukes and Cougars play at 5 p.m. Thursday before the Phoenix and Tribe. Friday's CAA Semifinal No. 2 would tip at 5:30 p.m. after the first semifinal at 3 p.m.
PARTY WITH THE PHOENIX
Come join other Phoenix alums, parents and fans as they cheer on the Phoenix during the 2018 CAA Women's Basketball Tournament! The pregame social will take place at the Landmark Americana, which is attached to the Daskalakis Athletic Center. The free social will include food and drinks.To register for the event,
click here. Pregame socials will take place prior to each game the Phoenix plays in Philadelphia.
POSTSEASON HONORS
Highlighted by
Shay Burnett's third consecutive First Team All-CAA nod, Elon had five student-athletes earn awards Wednesday, March 7. While Burnett was a First Team honoree,
Malaya Johnson and
Ra'Shika White picked up Second Team All-CAA honors and
Saadia Munford made the All-Rookie Team. White was also named the league's Sixth Player of the Year and
Jada Graves earned CAA Defensive Player of the Year with a spot on the All-Defensive Team.
CAUGHT FIRE
Elon has won 10 games in a row going back to Jan. 28, which sets a new program record for the longest streak of the Division I era. Before this one, Elon had won nine in a row last year from Dec. 17, 2016, to Jan. 15, 2017, on the way to the CAA regular season and tournament titles. The current streak is the 11th of the Division I era to go at least five games and the 26th going back to the start of the program in 1972.
DEFENSE WINS...
In the last 13 games, Elon's defense has been as strong as ever in allowing just 53.2 points per game going back to Jan. 19 against Towson. During the run, Elon is 11-1 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).
ELON IN THE CAA TOURNAMENT
Elon is 4-2 to date in the CAA Tournament. In its first tournament, it beat UNCW 60-48 before bowing out to eventual champion James Madison 63-60 in the semifinals in 2015. In 2016, the Phoenix dropped its opening game to fifth-seeded Delaware. It rebounded nicely, though, in 2017 by winning the title with two 28-point wins and an 18-point triumph in the title game. Elon has never been lower than a No. 4 seed in the CAA Tournament.
PERFECT AT HOME
Riding an 18-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. Elon will play its home games in Schar Center in 2018-19.
This season, Elon posted a perfect 13-0 record, which marks the first perfect home season in its Division I history and the second in program history. The first perfect season was 7-0 in 1974.
HOME SWEET ALUMNI GYM
Elon is 76-20 in Alumni Gym since
Charlotte Smith took over before the 2011-12 season went a perfect 13-0 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 24-2 in Alumni Gym with the other loss a 10-point defeat against Wake Forest.
TOPS IN THE COUNTRY
As a team, Elon's +8.2 rebounding margin is 21st-best in the country. Its 42.3 boards per contest is 25th, its 1,228 total boards is 59th and its 19.0 turnovers forced per outing ranks 45th. Allowing opponents to shoot 35.8 percent from the floor this season, that ranks as the 20th-best mark in the country. Elon has reached the free throw line 632 times this season, which ranks it the 28th-most frequent visitor to the charity stripe in the country and the 429 makes is 49th-most nationally. It's .679 percentage, though, checks in at No. 246 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
Elon players have earned seven weekly honors this season. They are:
CAA Player of the Week
Nov. 13:
Ra'Shika White
Jan. 22:
Malaya Johnson
Feb. 5:
Malaya Johnson
March 5:
Shay Burnett
CAA Rookie of the Week
Dec. 26:
Saadia Munford
Jan. 22:
Saadia Munford
Feb. 12:
Jaylin Powell
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. 17 this week in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll after standing at No. 20 last week and 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 is No. 45 on Wednesday ahead of the CAA Tournament.
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
Heading to Philadelphia for the CAA Tournament, Elon has a first-round bye and will start its title defense on Thursday, March 8, with a CAA Quarterfinal matchup against sixth-seeded William & Mary at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CAA.tv and can be heard on WSOE 89.3 FM. Tickets are available for the tournament by clicking
here.
--ELON--
