ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s basketball team will close out the regular season this weekend with the first of two games coming at league leader University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. in McKenzie Arena in the team’s pink game.
Elon (13-14, 9-7 SoCon) at Chattanooga (24-3, 16-0 SoCon)
Date: Friday, Feb. 28
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Chattanooga, Tenn. (McKenzie Arena)
Series: Chattanooga leads, 19-3
Last Meeting: Dec. 16, 2013, in Elon, N.C. – Chattanooga won, 66-43
Radio: WSOE – 89.3 FM – Matt Krause will have the call
Twitter Updates: @ElonScores
Last Time Out
Elon was not able to close out the home portion of its regular season with a win, taking a 71-66 defeat to Furman on Monday. The Phoenix cut an 11-point Paladin lead to five with 55 seconds remaining and was able to stay alive until the end, but Furman hit the necessary free throws down the stretch to keep the comeback out of hand for the maroon and gold. Elon saw 17 points from both Kelsey Harris and Jenifer Rhodes, while Sam Coffer posted a team-high nine rebounds.
Scouting the Lady Mocs
Chattanooga is two wins away from a perfect conference season. The Lady Mocs have not lost at home all season and are defeating league opponents by an average of over 17 points. On Monday, UTC pulled out a 71-67 win over Samford in double overtime on the road to keep its spotless record intact. The Lady Mocs are averaging 70 points a game and shooting 45 percent. Chattanooga struggles to defend the three, allowing opponents a 35 percent mark from beyond the arc, while Elon leads the conference in three-point shooting at 39 percent.
The Series
Chattanooga holds a big advantage in the all-time series, 19-3, however, Elon has recorded its three wins in the last five years. The teams met earlier in the season on Dec. 16 with UTC taking a 66-43 victory. The last time the Phoenix played in McKenzie Arena, the Lady Mocs won decidedly, 63-40. Last year, Chattanooga’s only loss of the conference season came from Elon who will look to do the same for a second straight year on Friday.
NCAA Rankings
The NCAA released its latest set of rankings on Feb. 24 and Elon finds itself ranked fifth nationally in three-point field goal percentage with a 38.7 percent mark from beyond the arc (first in the league) and 18th in blocked shots per game (5.2/game).
If The Season Ended Today…
Elon would earn the fourth seed in the 2014 Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament. The fourth seed is set to play the fifth seed, which would be Appalachian State at this point, on Saturday, March 8, at 2:15 p.m. in Kimmel Arena in Asheville, N.C.
Rookie Recognized
On Feb. 25, the Southern Conference announced that Jenifer Rhodes had been named the CRONS Freshman of the Week for the third time this season. Rhodes averaged 13.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in two games for the Phoenix that weekend. She scored 10 points in an 82-59 win over Wofford on Feb. 22, hitting 5-of-9 shots from the field and pulling down eight rebounds. Rhodes followed that with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds against Furman on Feb. 24. The North Charleston, S.C., native finished the week shooting 57.1 percent from the field and blocked five shots.
Looking Ahead
Elon will play its final game of the regular season on Sunday, March 2, at Samford in Birmingham, Ala. Tip is set for 3 p.m. (EST). After the conclusion of all conference games that day, the Phoenix will find out its seeding for the SoCon Tournament.