ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s basketball team returns to Roberston Court inside Alumni Gym for the first time in 2012 on Saturday, Jan. 7, when the Phoenix welcomes the reigning Southern Conference regular-season champions from Appalachian State for a 2 p.m. tip.
THE SERIES: Saturday marks the 28th all-time meeting between Elon and Appalachian State. ASU leads the all-time series, 18-9, having won the last meeting on March 6, 2011 in the second-round of the SoCon Tournament, 72-48. The series dates back 30 years, as Elon dropped a 53-20 decision to ASU in the first-ever meeting on Jan. 28, 1972. The series was dormant from 1987 to 2003 until Elon joined the SoCon. The two teams meet again on Feb. 13 in Boone.
ON THE HORIZON: Following Saturday’s game against Appalachian State, Elon remains at home for its next two games. The Phoenix hosts Georgia Southern on Jan. 13 before welcoming College of Charleston to Alumni Gym on Jan. 15.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: With 1,281 career points, including 21 in Elon’s last game at Davidson, junior guard Ali Ford passed Mae Haith for eighth all-time in scoring. Ford is 73 points shy of passing Lakia Hayes for seventh all-time in program history. Ford ranks second in school history in three-pointers made with 220, trailing only Loretta Lawson (234).
DOUBLE YOUR FUN: Junior Kelsey Evans recorded her 17th career double-double at Davidson on Jan. 4 with 15 points and 10 boards. Evans led the Southern Conference in double-doubles with 11 last year and was the league’s leading rebounder at 9.2 boards per game.
BACK AT HOME: Saturday is Elon’s first home game since the Phoenix topped Campbell, 89-88, on Dec. 14. The team’s six-game road swing is the 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.
OVER 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 (102 games).
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 14-of-14 field goal attempts. Evans has also made 6-of-6 shots from the free throw line.
MAROON GOES PINK: Elon’s annual Pink Zone game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 4, when the Phoenix hosts Furman at 2 p.m. Last season, Elon drew a record-number 1,071 fans to its Pink Zone contest against Samford.
ROAD TO ASHEVILLE: The 2012 Southern Conference Tournament is scheduled for March 2-5 in Asheville, N.C. Kimmel Arena will play host to the first round and quarterfinal games on March 2-3 before the tournament shifts to the Asheville Civic Center for the semifinals and championship on March 4-5.
It is too bad that schools like Elon and App State don’t get more local press from the newspapers and TV coverage than what they get. Schools like Elon and App State have some of the highest number of basketball and football players that are from this area. Elon and App State routinely come out to local high school games and they often recruit many of the best area players that the triad has to offer. They may not be UNC on the court or field but these schools are giving our local kids just as good of an education (if not better) and they are saving a whole lot of local families a boat load of money via their schlorships. Basketball at Elon and App State for women is as good if not better than basketball at schools like Wake Forest. You will find more fans attending their games than nearly any Wake games. So support these schools because they are putting more value back into our women’s sports community than schools like Wake Forest or Duke combined. Thankfully sites like Greensborosports.com give these schools the outlet that they desire.