ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women’s basketball team completes a six-game road swing on Wednesday night, Jan. 4, when the Phoenix heads to Belk Arena for a Southern Conference matchup with the Davidson Wildcats at 7 p.m.
THE SERIES: Elon and Davidson are meeting for the 21st time on Wednesday night. The ‘Cats lead the all-time series 14-6, but Elon has won two out of the last three meetings. In the last meeting, Davidson came away with a 69-65 win in Belk, holding off the Phoenix after a late 14-4 run. Elon put four players in double figures in the loss, while Lisa Archie recorded her first career double-double. The two teams meet again this season on Feb. 11 in Alumni Gym.
ON THE HORIZON: The Phoenix plays its first game at home since Dec. 14 when it hosts instate rival Appalachian State on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m.
GAME AFTER THE HOLIDAY: Elon has historically played well in games coming off New Year’s Day, as the program has recorded an all-time record of 22-16 in its first game on or after January 1.
JANUARY JOY: Elon will be looking to duplicate its month of January from a year ago when the team went 9-2, the most wins in a single month since the 1981-82 season. The Phoenix won seven-straight from Jan. 3 to Jan. 22, which included victories at Samford and Chattanooga.
REACHING THE CENTURY MARK: Senior Aiesha Harper recently played in her 100th career game for the Phoenix on Dec. 29 against Wagner in the Marriott Cavalier Classic. Harper has played in more games than anyone on Elon’s current roster (101 games).
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: With 1,260 career points, junior guard Ali Ford recently passed Jana Siler (1988-92) for ninth all-time on Elon’s scoring chart. Ford needs six points to pass Mae Haith for eighth in program history. Last season, Ford became only the third sophomore in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. She is also one of five players to record a 500-point season.
HITTING THE ROAD: Elon’s current six-game road swing is the program’s longest since the 2007-08 team also played six-straight away from Alumni Gym. Elon’s longest stretch playing away from home was in 2001-02 when the team played nine-straight road games or neutral-site games. In fact, the entire month of December was spent on the road for Elon during the 2001-02 season.
LAST FIVE: Over the last five games, Aiesha Harper is averaging 10.8 points per game and 5.6 assists per contest. Harper totaled a career-best eight assists against Wagner on Dec. 29 and currently leads the Southern Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (37th nationally).
CLOSING OUT GAMES: Junior Kelsey Evans has been key down the stretch of games for the Phoenix this season. The Raleigh, N.C., native is shooting 100 percent from the field in the final five minutes of games, sinking 11-of-11 field goal attempts. Evans has also made 6-of-6 shots from the free throw line.