GAME FACTS – The Emory women's basketball team opens the program's 30th season of intercollegiate action on Wednesday (Nov. 15) when it hosts South Region foe Rhodes College. The Woodruff PE Center will serve as the site for the 12th meeting between the Eagles and Lynx with tip scheduled for 5:00 pm.
Following the contest against Rhodes, Emory will host its Tipoff Classic this Friday and Saturday (Nov. 17-18). Joining the Eagles will be UT-Dallas, Belhaven University and Emory & Henry. A list of the games and times follows:
Friday, Nov. 17
6:00 pm – Emory vs. UT-Dallas
8:00 pm – Emory and Henry vs. Belhaven
Saturday, Nov. 18
4:00 pm – Emory and Henry vs. UT-Dallas
6:00 pm – Emory vs. Belhaven
THE COACHES – Interim Head Coach Misha Jackson (Emory, '13) was appointed to her current post in October of this year, following the resignation of Christy Thomaskutty. Jackson had served as an assistant on the Eagles' staff since the 2013-14 season. She played three seasons in an Eagle uniform (2010-11 through 2012-13), seeing action in a total of 78 games, 69 in a starting capacity. She closed out career ranked among the program's top-10 all-time performers in 11 categories.
Jackson is assisted by Lauren Rothfeld and Chuck Melito.
Lauren Sumski (Rhodes, '14) was named head coach at her alma mater in March of 2017. Sumski had spent the three previous seasons at Union University, helping that program amass a record of 73-20.
In her 13th year as head coach at UT-Dallas is Polly Thomason (Austin College, '99). Heading into the season opener vs. Austin College on Wednesday, Thomason claims a school and career record of 226-99. She has led UTD to three American Southwest Conference Championships and three trips to the NCAA D-III Tournament.
Steve Calder is in his fourth season as the head coach at Belhaven University. He will bring a school and career ledger of 38-43 into the Blazers' season opener vs. Millsaps (Nov. 15). Calder served as an assistant coach on the Emory women's staff during the 2009-10 campaign.
2016-17 RECORDS – Emory wound up the 2016-17 season with an overall record of 15-10, the program's fifth winning campaign in the past six years. The Eagles stood 9-2 in home dates and 6-8 in road/neutral settings.
Rhodes is looking to bounce back after finishing a 5-21 record last year.
UT-Dallas posted a 25-4 overall record in 2016-17, winning the American Southwest Conference East Conference with a 15-1 ledger as well as capturing the league championship.
The Blazers of Belhaven closed out last season with an overall slate of 14-11.
SERIES RECORDS – With the first game played in January of 1989, Emory has won the last six meetings to take a 6-5 lead in the all-time series with Rhodes. The Eagles have won the last two meetings at home (Rhodes leads, 3-2 in games played in Atlanta), including last year's 70-46 decision.
When Emory meets UT-Dallas and Belhaven this weekend, it will represent the first time that the Eagles have met those programs.
EMORY TRIO TO SERVE AS CAPTAINS – Serving as captains of the 2017-18 Emory women's basketball team are junior Ashley Oldshue (Glenview, IL), and sophomores Allison Chernow (Dresher, PA) and Erin Lindahl (Yardley, PA).
EMORY AND SEASON OPENERS – Heading into Wednesday's game against Rhodes, Emory posts an all-time mark of 20-9 in season openers. The Eagles have captured wins in the last five and in 10 of their last 12 season-opening games with setbacks to LaGrange (2009) and Oglethorpe (2011) the only blemishes in that stretch.
Last year, behind 17 points from Lindsey Tse and a career-high 16 rebounds by Ashley Oldshue (tying the school's 12th-highest game total), the Eagles opened 2016-17 with a 71-66 decision at home over Oglethorpe University. The win over the Stormy Petrels jump-started the team to a 6-0 record.
Wednesday's meeting will represent the fourth time that Rhodes has been Emory's season-opening foe (first time since 1997), with the Eagles winning the three previous encounters.
EMORY & HOME OPENERS – Emory has enjoyed a fair amount of success in home-opening contests, fashioning an all-time mark of 24-5 in those endeavors. The Eagles have won their last seven home openers including last season's triumph over Oglethorpe (Nov. 22).
OLDSHUE EARNS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA RECOGNITION – Ashley Oldshue was recently selected as a D3Hoops.com Preseason All-American. Oldshue was chosen to the fourth team and was one of three University Athletic Association players to be recognized. A First Team All-UAA honoree in 2016-17, Oldshue also brought home Second Team All-South Region as picked by D3hoops.com after leading the team and ranking fifth among UAA cagers in scoring average (16.5 ppg). In addition, she topped the team with a 7.1 per-game effort in rebounding with that mark placing her sixth in the league.
TSE BACK TO DIRECT THE OFFENSE – Sophomore point Lindsey Tse is one of eight returning players who garnered minutes from last season, and is looking to build upon a productive rookie campaign that saw her lead the UAA in both overall assists average (4.3 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (+2.3).
A starter in 19 of 25 games, her 108 total assists tied for ninth on the school's seasonal ladder and she doled out 10 or more assists on two occasions.
NUMBERS TO NOTE – Emory has won its last 22 games when scoring 80 or more points …
Emory has won 41 of its last 54 and 57 of its last 73 home games … Ashley Oldshue enters the year with 26 double-figure scoring performances to her credit.