GAME FACTS – After closing out the road portion of its schedule last weekend, the Emory women's basketball team begins a three-game home stand, starting with a Friday (Feb. 17) evening contest against Case Western Reserve that will tip at 6:00 pm, followed by a Sunday affair against Carnegie Mellon which is scheduled for a 2:00 pm start.
THE COACHES – Emory head coach Christy Thomaskutty (Tulane, '96) is in her 14th season in charge of the Eagles. She assumed her current duties prior to the start of the 2003-04 campaign and enters the weekend with a school and career mark of 185-165. Thomaskutty is assisted by Misha Jackson, Kim Coleman and Savannah Morgan.
Jennifer Reimer (Lycoming, '94) is in her 10th campaign in charge of the CWRU program and will take a school record of 120-135 into the Emory game. She has directed the program to six winning campaigns. In 20 years as a head coach, which includes stops at Allegheny College and Mount Union, Reimer posts a career mark of 277-228.
In her sixth season guiding the fortunes at Carnegie Mellon is Jacquie Hullah (Cal State Fullerton, '78). Prior to a Friday road date against Rochester, Hullah has compiled a school record of 83-68. Now in her 18th campaign as a head coach, Hullah starts the weekend the owner of a 240-223 career slate.
2016-17 RECORDS – Emory posts an overall record of 13-9, 4-7 in the UAA. The Eagles are coming off a pair of road setbacks, dropping a hard-fought 82-78 verdict at No. 9 Washington University last Friday before being upended at Chicago, 77-56.
Ashley Oldshue averaged 15.5 points over the two games, shooting 68.8 percent (11 of 16) from the floor and converting all nine of her free throw opportunities. Oldshue picked up 18 points against Wash U before closing out the Chicago game with 13 points and a team-high eight boards. Oldshue paced the club with a 6.0 rebounds-per-game average.
So far this year, the Eagles are 7-1 at home while finishing with a 6-8 ledger in road/neutral settings.
Case Western invades Atlanta with an overall record of 13-9 and posts a 5-6 effort in league action. The Spartans registered a pair of home victories last weekend, 64-60 over NYU and 71-68 vs. Brandeis. CWRU stands 8-4 in road/neutral contests.
Carnegie Mellon heads to Rochester having dropped five of its past six encounters, leaving it with an overall mark of 16-6, 5-6 in the UAA. Last weekend, the Tartans closed out their home schedule by topping Brandeis, 74-56, before coming out on the short end of a 66-51 verdict vs. NYU. CMU starts the weekend with a 9-2 record in road/away games.
SERIES RECORDS – Case Western leads the all-time series, which began in December of 1988, by a 26-21 margin. Emory came away with a win in the first match-up of the season (Jan. 20), outscoring the Spartans by a 19-4 margin in the fourth quarter en route to a 79-65 decision. Sophomore Azzairia Jackson-Sherrod came off the bench to lead five Eagle double-figure scorers with 16 points while classmate Ashley Oldshue chipped in 15 points and seven rebounds.
Emory leads the Carnegie Mellon series by a 36-20 advantage. The Tartans captured the initial meeting of the year on Jan. 22 by a 93-73 count. Senior Shellie Kaniut paced the Emory scoring attack with 17 points while freshman Erin Lindahl came off the bench to score a dozen. However, their efforts could not overcome CMU's Lisa Murphy who rang up 44 points and 15 rebounds. The Eagles have fared well against the Tartans at the Woodruff PE Center, winning 21 of the 27 encounters played there, which includes six straight victories.
EMORY TRIO SERVE AS CAPTAINS – Serving as captains of the 2016-17 Emory women's basketball team are seniors Michelle Bevan (Houston, TX), and Shellie Kaniut (Vienna, VA) and Fran Sweeney (Germantown, PA).
OLDSHUE CONTINUES STEADY PLAY – Ashley Oldshue put together two more double-figure scoring efforts this past weekend, totaling 18 points against Wash U before contributing 13 points in the Chicago contest. Oldshue was successful on 68.8 percent (11 of 16) from the floor and nine-of-nine free throws over the two games in extending her double-digit streak to 19 contests. In addition, she was the team's top rebounder with eight boards vs. Chicago.
The team's top scorer in seven games this year, she has produced a total of 21 outings with 10 or more points which has helped result in her pacing the club and ranking fifth among UAA performers in overall scoring average with a 16.3 per-game average, good for a sixth-place tie on the Eagles' seasonal ladder. She has sank a team-leading 56.3 percent (129 of 229) from the floor with that mark third in the UAA and 23rd among all D-III players (through Feb. 13). She has hit 50 percent or higher of her field goal tries in 16 games. One of the UAA's top free throw shooters, her 80.6 percent (100 of 124) effort from the stripe is tops on the team and fifth in the UAA. In conference action, she finds herself tied for fourth on the league's scoring ladder (16.7 ppg), and is second in field goal percentage (.589, 66 of 112).
Entering the upcoming weekend, she has 359 points this year and holds down 14th place on the school's seasonal chart.
She has been consistent on the boards, pulling down 7.1 caroms per contest, good for sixth on the league list. She has finished with seven or more rebounds in 13 games, and her per-game average of 3.54 offensive rebounds is second in the UAA.
KANIUT TURNS IN BIG EFFORT vs. WASH U – Before leaving the game with an injury in the second half, Shellie Kaniut was in the midst of recording a big outing against Wash U, posting 23 points, five rebounds and four assists. She finished the night converting nine-of-15 field goal attempts, including three triples in four tries, and both of her free throw opportunities in registering her 15th double-figure scoring performance of the season and fifth of 20 or more points.
Kaniut is second on the Eagles' score sheet and eighth among UAA players in overall scoring average (14.3 ppg). She has converted 44.8 percent from the floor (125 of 279), placing her 10th on the conference chart. In league play, she is eighth in the conference in scoring (15.1 ppg).
Her output from last weekend upped her career total to 874 points, good for 12th place on the program's all-time list.
SWEENEY A LONG-RANGE THREAT – Fran Sweeney hit three pointers in the Wash U and Chicago contests last weekend and will head into the Friday's bout vs. Case Western with treys in her last 11 games. Her two triples against WU boosted her total to 14 contests this year with multiple treys.
Sweeney holds down the No. 3 position on the UAA list in three-point shooting with a 40.0 percent (46 of 115) mark, good for 28th place in the D-III ranks. Her 46 treys ties for 9th on the Emory's seasonal chart.
Her 2.1 treys per contest is good for the No. 3 spot on the UAA ladder. Career-wise, her 143 three-point field goals ranks fourth all-time in program history.
DID YOU KNOW?? – That Ashley Oldshue's nine makes from the charity stripe last weekend enabled her to establish the program's seasonal record with 100 free throws. Ashley topped the previous standard of 98 that was set by Beth Bergmann during the 2004-05 season … Michelle Bevan ranks 11th on Emory's all-time ladder with a 71.9 percent effort in free throw shooting (105 of 146) … Ashley Oldshue's current career mark of 52.9 percent (162 of 306) from the floor is the program's No. 3 all-time mark … The senior trio of Kaniut, Bevan and Sweeney have combined for 2,037 points, 825 rebounds and 228 steals.
NUMBERS TO NOTE – Freshman Lindsey Tse continues to lead the UAA in overall assists average (4.5 apg) and is tied for third in conference action (3.5 apg) … Tse's 98 assists rank 14th on the school's seasonal chart … Tse has eight games with five or more assists, and her 2.5 assist/turnover ratio is first in the conference and 10th nationally (through Feb. 13) … Michelle Bevan has 10 outings this year with six or more caroms … Bevan is second on the team and 15th on the league ladder in overall rebound average (5.8 rpg) … In league action, Bevan and Oldshue are at 6.5 boards per game, tying for 11th on the conference chart … Freshman Allison Chernow's 14 points in the Chicago game last Sunday led the team and represented her second-highest total of the campaign … Chernow has produced six double-digit scoring games this year … Freshman Erin Lindahl claims nine contests with six or more boards and ranks 20th among UAA players in overall rebound average (4.7 rpg) …Fran Sweeney has 22 career double-figure scoring contests along with 46 performances of two or more three pointers to her credit … Emory converted eight three-point field goals in the Wash U contest, its second-highest total of the season while its 42.1 percent effort (8 of 19) was its fourth-best overall and second-best mark on the year … Emory is No. 3 in the UAA and 71st in the D-III ranks in rebound margin (+6.3) … The Eagles have finished 10 games with a double-digit advantage on the glass, two of which have come during UAA play … The Eagles rank third in the UAA in overall field goal percentage (.438, 622 of 1419) …Shellie Kaniut has 44 career contests of double-figure scoring to her credit … Kaniut has totaled 92 career treys and is 10th all-time at the school … In addition, Kaniut has been a force at the defensive end of the floor with her 42 steals leading the team, while her 2.0 per-game average in that department is fifth in the UAA … Kaniut has two or more thefts to her credit in 12 games this season … Career-wise, Kaniut is No. 8 all-time at Emory with 161 steals …Michelle Bevan has four double-doubles during her career (three in '16-17) and 26 double-figure scoring performances … Emory has held four opponents to less than 30 percent field goal shooting … The Eagles grabbed 16 offensive boards in last Friday's Wash U contest, high for a league game this year … Emory has recorded 20 games with 10 or more offensive boards this season and is fourth in the conference in O-boards with a 14.1 per-game average … Emory has doled out 20 or more assists in five games this season … The Eagles are No. 2 in the UAA and 22nd in the D-III ranks in assists (17.3 apg) … Emory has enjoyed an edge in field goal shooting in 13 games and stands 12-1 in those affairs … The Eagles are averaging 72.4 points and surrendering 59.2 points in their eight home games … In its 14 road/neutral contests, Emory averaged 74.5 points and allowed 64.7 points … Emory is connecting at 34.2 percent (113 of 330) from three-point range in overall play, good for second in the league and 44thamong all D-III programs (through Feb. 13) … Emory is averaging 78.5 points and shooting 45.6 percent (396 of 869) from the floor in its 13 victories vs. 66.9 points and 41.1 percent from the field in its nine setbacks … Emory has outscored the opposition in 47 quarters while being outpointed in 34 – seven quarters have been tied … The Eagles have attempted more free throws than their opposition in 15 games … The Eagles have won their last 22 and are 46-4 during Thomaskutty's tenure as head coach when scoring 80 or more points (4-0 in '16-17; 2-0 in '15-16; 1-0 in '14-15; 5-0 in 2013-14; and 7-0 in 2012-13) ... Emory has won 39 of its last 51 and 55 of its last 70 home games … Emory has finished with an advantage in second-chance points in 13 games.