GAME FACTS – Looking to build upon a three-game winning streak, the Emory women's basketball team gears up for a pair of conference road games this weekend.  On Friday (Feb. 17), the Eagles play at Carnegie Mellon in a 6:00 p.m. start before closing out the weekend with a Sunday afternoon tilt against Case in a 2:00 p.m. tip.

Both contests will have a video stream provided.  To access the CMU webcast, go to the following -- http://www.cmu.edu/athletics/fanzone/video/webcast.html.  The Emory-Case contest can be viewed by going to http://tv.case.edu/athletics/.

THE COACHES – Emory Head Coach Christy Thomaskutty (Tulane, '96) is in her ninth season at the helm of the program.  She assumed her current duties prior to the start of the 2003-04 campaign.  She is assisted by Katherine Menendez, Kim Coleman, Jessica Davis and Chelsea MacDonald.

In her first year as the head coach at Carnegie Mellon is Jacquie Hullah (Cal State Fullerton, 1978).  Appointed to her current post in April of 2011, Hullah is in her 13^th year as a head coach, with previous stints at Northwestern and Arizona State, and owns a career record of 166-169.

Jennifer Reimer (Lycoming, 1994) is in her fifth campaign in charge of the Case fortunes.  During her tenure with the Spartans, she has guided the program to three winning campaigns.  Now in her in 16^th season as a head coach, Reimer will take a career record of 218-163 into a Friday home game vs. Rochester.

2011-12 RECORDS – Emory stands 16-6 overall, 7-4 in the University Athletic Association, good for fourth place.  Last weekend, the Eagles closed out the home portion of its regular-season schedule with a pair of victories.  On Friday, Emory emerged with an 82-73 overtime win against NYU before scrapping to a 53-48 verdict over Brandeis.   The team's 16 wins represent the program's highest total since the 1998-99 squad finished with a 16-9 ledger.

Carnegie Mellon hosts the Eagles with an 8-14 showing in overall action, 2-9 in the league.  Last weekend the Tartans lost at No. 2 Chicago, 95-46, and at No. 12 Washington University, 86-74.

Case Western will meet Rochester with an overall mark of 12-10, 5-6 in the UAA.  The Spartans dropped a 59-50 verdict at Wash U. last Friday before losing at Chicago, 73-44. 

Emory's Top Defensive Scoring Efforts Under Thomaskutty

 SERIES RECORDS – In a series that started in December of 1988, Emory claims a 29-17 all-time mark against Carnegie Mellon.  The Eagles have captured eight of the last 10 meetings between the schools including a 59-55 decision earlier this year in Atlanta.  Sophomore Hannah Lilly paced the Emory scoring attack in that contest with 26 points while junior Danielle Landry pulled down nine boards.  Emory holds a slim 12-11 advantage in games that have been played on CMU's home floor.

Case holds a 22-15 advantage in the all-time series with Emory.  The Eagles recorded a 68-56 victory earlier this season at the Woodruff PE Center with Lilly totaling 24 points and junior Misha Jackson controlling the boards to the tune of 14 rebounds.  The Spartans have captured 14 of the 19 games that have been played on their home floor, though Emory posted a 57-53 triumph in Cleveland a year ago.

EMORY TRIO TO SERVE AS CAPTAINS – Serving as captains of the 2011-12 Emory women's basketball team are senior Melissa Koike (San Francisco, CA) along with juniors Danielle Landry (Vienna, VA) and Misha Jackson (Atlanta).  

MORGAN LEADS THE UAA IN ASSISTS – Heading into the weekend. sophomore Savannah Morgan continues to lead the UAA in assists in both overall (5.3 apg) and conference (5.5 apg) action.  After picking up 15 points and six assists in 39 minutes of play against NYU,  Morgan doled out four assists with just one turnover in 31 minutes against Brandeis. Her assists average ranks her 23^rd nationally, and she stands No. 3 in the league and 17^th among D-III performers in assist/turnover ratio (1.7). 

When looking at the school's season list, Morgan resides in the No. 3 position with 116 assists, just seven from passing Mandy Jackson's No. 2 mark of 122 set during the 1994-95 campaign.   Morgan currently claims the top spot in assists average at Emory with a 5.3 per-game effort, just ahead of Carter's 5.1. 

The team leader in assists in 14 of the last 15 and in a total of 16 games this season, Morgan's career total of 221 assists ties her with Cathey Goodgame (1988-91) for eighth place on the Eagles' all-time chart.  Her career showing of 4.7 assists per game ranks first all-time at Emory. 

In addition to her assists average, Morgan is 17th in the UAA in scoring (9.0 ppg) and has produced 10 contests of 10 or more points.  She is first in the league in steals (2.1 spg), with her 46 thefts tying for 15^th on the school's seasonal chart, seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.365, 23-of-63) and tied for fourth in minutes (30.1 mpg).

EMORY CONTINUES STEALS ONSLAUGHT --  The Eagles totaled 10 steals against NYU last Friday before registering 15 thefts against Brandeis, upping the team's total to 16 games this year with double-figure steals.  Emory paces the UAA in the category in both overall (11.9 spg) and league action (12.5 spg) with its overall mark placing it 60^th on the national scene.   With five regular-season games on the docket, the Eagles have totaled 261 thefts, 4^th on the school's seasonal ladder and 12 from moving into the No. 3 spot.

Individually, Emory has five players holding down the top spots in the UAA in that category, led by Morgan's conference-leading 2.1 per-game mark.  Hannah Lilly (1.90 spg) is third while junior Misha Jackson is fourth (1.8 spg).   Senior Melissa Koike and junior Danielle Landry are tied for fifth on that list with a 1.7 per-game showing.

Emory's Top Offensive Scoring Efforts Under Thomaskutty 

THREE-POINT SHOOTING A KEY FOR EMORY – Entering the weekend, Emory leads the UAA in both three-point field goals per game (6.7 tpg) and three-point field goal percentage (.356, 124-of-361).   Emory has converted 40 percent or higher from beyond the arc in nine contests and has registered a better three-point percentage than its opposition in 15 contests this season.  On the flip side, Emory is the second-stingiest team in the league when it comes to three-point percentage defense, allowing foes to a 28.0 percent mark from distance.  In conference contests, the Eagles rank third in that department, with the opposition hitting just 28.2 percent of their triple attempts.

MISHA JACKSON NOTES -- Junior Misha Jackson's chalked up a team-high 17 points against NYU and followed that with a 10-point afternoon against Brandeis, giving her 18 double-figure scoring contests this season.  In addition to her point production against BU, she snagged a game-high 12 rebounds, tying her for the UAA lead with six double-doubles on the year. 

Heading into this weekend's action, Jackson holds down the No. 2 spot on the squad and fifth among UAA players in overall scoring average (12.5 ppg).  In league contests, she is scoring at a 10.7 per-game clip, ninth on the conference ladder.  Jackson has been the Eagles' top scorer in six contests and continues to pace the club with a 48.6 percent (122-of-251) effort from the floor, good for sixth place among UAA performers. 

The 5-foot-11 Jackson has snatched 10 or more rebounds on six occasions this year and owns nine career outings during her two-year career with the Eagles.  She has led or shared for the team lead in boards in 11 games this year and her 7.9 per-game mark in rebounding ranks fourth among UAA players.  In conference games, Jackson stands tied for second on the UAA chart in rebounding with a 7.4 per-game average.

LILLY'S THREE-POINT STREAK ENDS AND A NEW ONE BEGINS– Hannah Lilly saw her 23-game streak of three-point field goals come to an end against Chicago (Feb. 3) but she has knocked down triples in her last three contests and now has 61 treys this year, good for third place on the school's seasonal list.  The Mercer Island, WA, native hit a pair from beyond the arc against both NYU and Brandeis last weekend and now owns 15 contests with two or more treys to her credit.  Entering this weekend, she leads the UAA with 2.8 three-pointers per game, good for 14^th place nationally.  In addition, she has been successful on 40.9 percent of her three-point attempts, second in the UAA and 17^th among all D-III players.

Career-wise, she has knocked down 102 from beyond the arc, good for a fourth-place tie with Erica Kaplan (2005-08) on the school's all-time ladder.  She is No. 3 on the Eagles' career ladder with a 36.7 percent (102-of-278) mark from three-point range.   


Lilly, the UAA's leading scorer in both overall (16.9 ppg) and conference play (16.5 ppg), has chalked up 19 double-figure scoring games this year including eight contests of 20 or more points (10 in her career).  In Emory's 10 home contests, she is tossed in 16.0 points and shot 43.4 percent (59-of-136) from the field, and checks in with a 17.7 per-game scoring effort and 50.9 percent effort (81-of-159) from the floor in the Eagles' 12 away contests.

NOTES – Emory held Brandeis to just 28.6 percent from the floor, the third time this year that it had limited an opponent to less than 30 percent … BU's 48 points marked the sixth time this year that the Eagles had held an opponent to less than 50 points … The Eagles have had seven different players rank as their top scorer this season … Emory converted 20-of-27 free throw attempts in the NYU contest with its 74.1 percent mark the ninth  time it had connected on 70 percent or better from the charity stripe … Sophomore Selena Castillo recorded two steals in the Brandeis game, her seventh outing of multiple thefts this year … Senior Becca Feldman picked up 11 points against NYU, her seventh double-figure scoring effort of the season and 26^th of her career … Feldman hit a pair of treys last weekend,  boosting her career total to 70, good for  ninth place on Emory's all-time chart … The Eagles' 72.4 points-per-game in overall action is second in the UAA and ranks 22^nd nationally … Emory ranks first among league teams and 51^st nationally (through Feb. 12) in turnover margin (+4.41) … Emory has finished with a better field goal percentage showing against 13 of 22 foes (12-1) … The Eagles have had players scored in double figures on 75 occasions so far this year while the opposition has produced 47 double-digit scorers … Emory has outrebounded 13 of 22 opponents …Emory has turned the ball over on fewer occasions in 10 of the last 13 and in a total of 14 games this season … The Eagles are 26-4 during Thomaskutty's tenure as head coach when scoring 80 or more points … Junior Danielle Landry has notched double figures in points in five of her last seven contests and has nine on the year …. Landry's game-high 11 boards against NYU represented her third double-digit effort in that category this season and ninth of her career … The 6-foot Landry is pulling down 6.4 rebounds per contest, second on the team and sixth among UAA players … Career-wise, Landry is tied with Jennifer Naeger (1996-2000) for 13^th place on Emory's career chart with 434 rebounds.