TOURNEY FACTS – The No. 14-ranked Emory women's team, fresh off capturing the program's first-ever University Athletic Association championship, is gearing up to serve as the host site for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Joining the Eagles in this weekend's action will be Whitworth University (WA), Ferrum College and Huntingdon College. A schedule of the games is as follows:
Friday, Mar. 1
4:00 pm – Huntingdon vs. Ferrum
6:30 pm – Whitworth vs. Emory
Saturday, Mar. 2
6:30 pm – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Live Stats and a video stream provided for both games. To access the Live Stats, go to the following link: http://www.go.emory.edu/LiveStats/WBB/xlive.htm . The video can be accessed by going to http://www.emoryathletics.com/information/webcasts.
THE COACHES – Emory Head Coach Christy Thomaskutty (Tulane, '96) is in her 10th 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 129-121. She is assisted by Katherine Menendez, Kim Coleman, Jessica Davis, Chelsea MacDonald and Brittany Graham.
Helen Higgs is in her 19th year at the helm of the Whitworth program and heads into Friday's contest with a school won-lost ledger of 284-198. Higgs claims the most wins in school history as well as the program's best all-time winning percentage.
In his 10th year of patrolling the sidelines at Ferrum is Bryan Harvey (Roanoke, '94). Harvey sports a school and career won-lost ledger of 178-68 and prior to this season, had been named the USA South Coach of the Year on three occasions.
Buzz Phillips (Troy, '70) is in his seventh campaign as the head coach of Huntingdon and heads into postseason action with a won-lost ledger of 92-81.
2012-13 RECORDS – Emory, ranked No. 14 by D3hoops.com and 15th in the USA Today Sports Poll, stands 22-3 in overall play. The Eagles earned the University Athletic Association automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after capturing the league's championship on Saturday with a 65-57 triumph over the University of Rochester which snapped a deadlock between the two schools. It marked Emory's first-ever conference crown and this weekend's appearance represents the program's third-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament and first since 1997. The Eagles stand 12-2 in home games this year.
A member of the Northwest Conference, Whitworth heads into the post season with a mark of 21-6. The Pirates earned their second-ever trip to the NCAAs following a 76-61 triumph over Lewis and Clark College (Ore.) in the finals of the NWC tournament championship.
Ferrum College sports an overall ledger of 24-4 and landed an at-large bid to this year's tournament. The Panthers tied for the USA South regular season title (16-2) but lost in the finals of the conference championship to Christopher Newport.
Huntingdon College will be making its initial foray into the NCAA Tournament after upending Salem College, 73-61, in the Great South Athletic Conference title contest on Sunday. The Hawks enter the posteason with wins in 11 of their last 12 games that has brought its record to 17-9.
SERIES RECORDS – Friday's bout between Emory and Whitworth will represent the first-ever meeting the two schools in women's basketball.
Emory stands 6-0 all-time against Ferrum with the last meeting taking place on Dec. 2, 2000, with the Eagles posting a 91-65 win. Emory stands 3-0 vs. the Panthers in games that have been played in Atlanta.
Emory has won all five meetings against Huntingdon. The teams met earlier in the season (Dec. 31) with the Eagles besting the Hawks by an 88-44 margin. Junior Hannah Lilly paced the team's scoring attack with 21 points.
EMORY DUO SERVE AS CAPTAINS – Serving as captains of the 2012-13 Emory
women's basketball team are seniors Misha Jackson (Atlanta, GA) and Danielle Landry (Vienna, VA). The pair also served as captains, along with the graduated Melissa Koike, during the 2011-12 season.
LONG TIME COMING – This is Emory's first NCAA appearance since 1997. Just to take trip down memory lane, here are some of the things that were taking place in March of 1997 as well as throughout that year.
** National Average of price of a gallon of gas was $1.23
** The English Patient was award Best Picture honors at the Academy Awards
** The Pittsburgh Penguins' Joe Mullen is the first American to score 500 goals
** Average price of a gallon of milk was $1.15
** The first game is held at Turner Field in Atlanta with the Braves defeating the NY Yankees, 2-0, in an exhibition
** Average cost of a new home was $124,100
** IBM's Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, the first time a computer beats a chess World champion in a match.
EMORY'S DEFENSE MAKE AN IMPACT – The Eagles closed out the regular season in the No. 1 position among UAA teams (70th nationally) in scoring defense, surrendering just 54.0 points per game. In UAA action, Emory allowed 56.3 points per-game, second only to Washington University's mark of 56.1. Emory has held opponents to fewer than 50 points on eight occasions including a Jan. 25 game when the 28 points scored by Brandies tied the seventh-lowest opponent total against an Emory squad.
The high-energy Emory defense forced Rochester into 23 turnovers each with the Eagles parlaying those miscues into a total of 25 points.
Emory has forced the opposition into 20 or more turnovers in 15 of the last 16 and in a total of 22 games this season, including the regular-season finale vs. Rochester when the Yellowjackets finished with 23 miscues. The Eagles are averaging 25.7 points off opponent mistakes while foes are scoring 11.6 points off Emory turnovers. Emory continues to lead the UAA, while ranking 11th among D-III programs, in steals (14.7 spg) and holds down the No. 1 position in the conference (6th nationally) in turnover margin (+10.04).
Emory has been especially stingy on the defensive end of the floor in its 14 home outings, allowing the opposition just 49.3 points while limiting foes to just .340 percent from the floor.
JACKSON COMING UP BIG DOWN THE STRETCH – Senior Misha Jackson has been a workhorse on the glass for Emory down the homestretch of the regular season, either leading or sharing for team honors in rebounding in seven of the last eight and in 10 of the last 13 contests.
Jackson, who has a conference-high eight double-doubles this season (17 in her career), has either led or shared for the team's lead in boards on 17 occasions. She has chalked up 10 double-digit performances on the glass in '12-13 and claims 21 career outings of those contests
Jackson checks into the Whitworth game as the UAA's leading rebounder in overall (9.0 rpg) play and finished off the league portion of the schedule in the No. 1 spot as well with an 8.8 per-game showing. She has registered eight or more caroms on 15 occasions this year. Her 3.4 per-game mark in offensive rebounds is No. 3 in the league and ranks third in defensive rebounds with a per-game showing of 5.6.
A double-figure scorer in 17 games this season, Jackson finds herself third on the club and ninth among UAA players in scoring average (11.0 ppg) while her team-high 47.3 percent mark (115-of-276) stands seventh on the league ladder. She has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in 11 contests and over the last five games is connecting at a 57.8 percent (22-of-38) clip. Jackson tops the Eagles and is third in the loop in blocked shots with a 1.5 per-game effort and has rejections to her credit in 11 of the last 14 games, six of which have been multiple-block performances.
Career-wise, Misha is firmly entrenched in a number of school categories including scoring (12th, 868 pts.), field goals (9th, 369), rebounds (10th, 594), blocked shots (2nd, 90), and steals (8th, 134).
CASTILLO'S CAPERS -- Junior Selena Castillo keeps moving up the Emory ladder for most steals in a season, with her two thefts over the weekend boosting her mark to 72, good for the No. 2 spot on that list.
A starter in all 25 games, Castillo's two steals against Rochester represented her 20th effort of multiple thefts this year. At the start of the week, Castillo topped the UAA and was 81st nationally in steals with a 2.9 per-game average. In addition, she holds down the No. 6 position on the league chart with a .361 three-point field goal percentage effort (30-of-83).
Career-wise, her 138 thefts rank seventh all-time at the school.
LANDRY IN SELECT COMPANY – Danielle Landry is just one of three players in Emory women's basketball history to rank among the program's all-time top 10 in both rebounding and steals.
Landry's 599 career boards are ninth all-time at the school while her 178 steals places her in the No. 3 slot on that list. During her career, Landry owns 13 contests of 10 or more boards, four of which have come during this season.
The 6-foot Landry is second on the team behind Misha Jackson and tied for 10th in the league in rebounding (6.1 rpg) in overall play while her 6.3 per-game showing in conference tilts stood 10th. She has either led or tied for the team's lead in rebounding in nine contests during the 2012-13 season. The other Emory players to rank among the program's top 10 all-time performers include Alicia Moore (1994-98) and Misha Jackson.
MORGAN TABBED AS UAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Savannah Morgan was named the UAA Player of the Week after helping the Eagles to the win over Rochester by scoring a game-high 20 points, grabbing four rebounds and totaling two assists.
She ended the game sinking nine-of-14 from the floor, including two-of-three from beyond the arc, in posting her second-highest point total of the season and her 15th double-digit outing of the year.
It marked the second this season and during her career that she has been chosen for the award
LILLY A 1,000-POINT SCORER-- Junior Hannah Lilly became the program's eighth-ever 1,000-point scorer in the Chicago (Feb. 10) game and she will head into the Whitworth contest with 1,033 career points.
The team leader with 51 three-point field goals, tied for sixth on the school's seasonal chart,
she has produced 15th performance of two or more triples this season. Lilly's 2.1 treys-per-game average is good for second place on the league ladder.
Lilly set a school record with 26 straight games with a three-point field with that streak beginning on Feb. 5, 2012 and ending on Feb. 8, 2013.
A double-figure scorer in 17 games this year, she paces the team and is fourth in the UAA in scoring (13.0 ppg). She is also seventh in the conference in three-point percentage (.342) and 11th in assists (2.4 apg).
The owner of the No. 7 slot on the school's career list with 388 field goals, she is firmly entrenched in the No. 2 position with 166 three-point field goals. So far during her two-plus year career at Emory, she has recorded 53 games of double-digit point production and claims 13 contests of 20 or more points.
MORGAN DIRECTS THE ATTACK – Morgan's 20-point performance vs. Rochester enabled her to boost her season mark to 11.9 points per game, good for the No. 2 spot on the squad and sixth among UAA players. It was her second-highest point total of her career.
In addition to her scoring average, Morgan is second in the UAA with a 5.1 per-game assists average in overall play and finished the conference schedule in second place with a 4.8 per-game effort. She has doled out seven or more assists in seven contests this season. In addition, she is tied for first in the league with a 1.7 mark in assist/turnover ratio. After establishing a school season record with 142 assists last year, Morgan has rang up 128 so far this year 'in '12-13, good for third place on the Emory seasonal list.
Her 742 points ranks 18th on the Emory career scoring chart and she stands third all-time at the school with 375 assists and is fifth in steals (140).
NOTES – Emory played six games against four teams that made this year's NCAA Tournament, compiling a 3-3 record … Emory's 155 three-point field goals is the second-highest seasonal mark in school annals, behind only the 175 triples that the '11-12 team recorded … The Eagles are averaging a league-leading 6.2 three-point field goals per game and have converted seven or more treys in 12 contests this season … Emory's 10 three-pointers against Carnegie Mellon (Feb. 17) was the fourth time this year it finished in double digits … Danielle Landry's 10 free throws in the Rochester game (Feb. 23) is the high-water mark by an Emory player during the season and ties the 11th-high individual game total in school history … The Eagles' 14.7 steals per game currently stands as a school seasonal mark, bettering the 12.2 per-game effort by the 2010-11 club … Over the last four games, Emory is outscoring the opposition by a 70.8-59.5 per-game margin … In the last four games, the Eagles are averaging 29.5 points off opponent turnovers … Emory has set a school record for most steals in a season with its 368 thefts surpassing the previous standard of 305 set by the 2010-11 squad … The Eagles turned the ball over a season-low six times in the Chicago game (Feb. 10) , the best effort recorded by a Thomaskutty-coached Eagle team … Emory has enjoyed an edge in the points-off-turnover category on 22 occasions with the opposition finishing with the advantage in two contests (one game tied) … Emory is shooting .320 from three-point range in home (98-of-306) games while closing out the regular season with a .317 mark (57-of-180) on the road … Emory's +16.9 scoring margin paces the UAA and is good for 21st place among D-III programs … Emory is averaging 35.2 points during the first half of action and 34.5 points during the second half … Opponents are averaging 25.3 points in the first half and 27.7 in the second stanza … The Eagles are 33-4 during Thomaskutty's tenure as head coach when scoring 80 or more points (6-0 in 2012-13) ... Emory has outshot 16 foes from three-point range … Khadijah Sayyid is fifth in the UAA in steals with a 2.2 per-game effort … Sayyid has 16 performances of two or more steals to her credit … Sayyid's 54 thefts place ties for 11th on the school's seasonal chart … Sophomore O'Dez Oraedu has recorded rebounds in all 25 games off the bench and has five or more boards on 10 occasions while averaging 15.0 minutes per outing.