GAME FACTS – The Emory women's basketball team returns home this weekend for a pair of University Athletic Association home games when it battles nationally ranked Carnegie Mellon on Friday (Jan. 22) before taking on Case Western Reserve on Sunday (Jan. 24).
The Woodruff PE Center will be the site of the 54th meeting between the Eagles and CMU and tip is slated for 6:00 pm. On Sunday, the Spartans of CWRU come to town for the 45th-ever clash between those two programs, with that affair beginning at 2:00 pm.
Live Stats (http://emoryathletics.com/information/LiveStats) and a video stream (http://emoryathletics.com/information/webcasts) will be provided for both games. Handling the play-by-play duties will be Justin Hanover.
THE COACHES – Emory head coach Christy Thomaskutty (Tulane, '96) is in her 13th season in charge of the Eagles. She assumed her current duties prior to the start of the 2003-04 campaign and enters Friday's action with a school and career mark of 168-149. Thomaskutty is assisted by Misha Jackson, Kim Coleman and Corneille Burt Algarra.
Jacquie Hullah (Cal State Fullerton, '78) is in her fifth season as the head coach at Carnegie Mellon, where she has compiled a record of 59-56. Now in her 17th campaign as a head coach, which includes stops at Dartmouth and Arizona State, Hullah checks in with a career ledger of 216-211.
Now in her ninth year of patrolling the sidelines for Case Western Reserve is Jennifer Reimer (Lycoming, '94). While with the Spartans, she has guided the program to five winning seasons, including a 16-victory performance in 2012-13. In 19 years as a head coach, Reimer begins the weekend with a career mark of 261-211.
RECORDS – Emory brings an overall record of 9-5, 0-3 in UAA action, into its meeting against Carnegie Mellon. The Eagles came up just short in a pair of conference road games last weekend, dropping a 48-45 decision to No. 4 NYU on Friday before falling to Brandeis by a 59-56 margin.
Emory shot a combined 38.1 percent from the floor in the two games compared to the opposition's mark of 34.7 percent, and enjoyed an edge in three-point shooting, 34.5 percent to 32.4 percent. However, the Eagles were outrebounded by a 44.0-26.5 per-game mark, and shot just 11 free throws to NYU's and Brandeis' total of 41.
Emory is 5-1 at home and 4-4 in road/neutral settings this season.
Carnegie Mellon invades the Woodpec with an overall slate of 13-1, 2-1 in the UAA. Ranked No. 20 nationally by D3hoops.com, and 21st by USA Today, the Tartans split a pair of home dates last weekend, topping Chicago, 83-80, before losing to No. 11 Washington University, 63-50. CMU is 5-1 at home this year and posts an 8-0 record in road/neutral games.
Heading into a Friday game at Rochester, Case Western Reserve claims an overall mark of 5-9, 0-3 in the UAA. The Spartans dropped a pair of home games last weekend, 64-55 to No. 11 Washington University and 67-58 to Chicago. CWRU has won two of five home games and stands 3-6 in road/neutral outings.
SERIES RECORDS – Emory holds a 35-18 lead in the all-time series vs. Carnegie Mellon that saw the first game played in December of 1988. The teams split last year with Emory winning on its home floor, 62-57, before CMU snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Eagles with an 85-74 triumph in Pittsburgh. Emory is 20-6 vs. the Tartans in games played in Atlanta.
CWRU enjoys a 24-20 edge in the series vs. Emory, which saw the first game played in December of 1988. Emory has won five of the past six contests, including both of last year's encounters, 65-62 at home and 61-60 at Case Western. Emory has won 12 of the 21 meetings vs. CWRU that have been played at the Woodruff PE Center.
EMORY DEFENSE RANKS HIGH IN UAA – In Emory's setback at NYU, the Eagles limited the Violets to a season-low 48 points and just 28.6 percent from the floor. It represented the seventh time this year that Emory limited an opponent to 50 or fewer points (compared to last year's entire total of four).
Through games played Jan. 18, Emory ranks No. 2 in the UAA and is 35th among all D-III programs in scoring defense, surrendering just 53.0 points per game.
Emory has been stingy as well in the field goal percentage defense category, allowing opponents just 34.2 percent from the floor, good for the No. 3 position on the league ladder and 80th on the D-III front at the start of the week.
SAYYID MOVING UP EMORY'S CAREER STEALS LADDER – Khadijah Sayyid closed out last weekend's action with a game-high four steals in the NYU game, followed by a pair of thefts against Brandeis, boosting her streak to 41 games with at least one steal to her credit. In the process, she moved into the No. 4 position on the program's all-time ladder with 205, passing Savannah Morgan's ('10-14) mark of 202.
Sayyid is averaging 2.4 steals per game this year, good for a third-place tie on the UAA chart.
Entering the upcoming weekend, Sayyid owns 52 career contests of two or more steals, nine of which have come this season.
EMORY TRIO TO SERVE AS CAPTAINS – Serving as captains of the 2015-16 Emory women's basketball team are seniors Khadijah Sayyid (Longmont, CO) and Ilene Tsao (Fremont, CA) and junior Shellie Kaniut (Vienna, VA).
SAYYID A LONG-RANGE THREAT – Sayyid has been the Eagles' most efficient three-point shooter, knocking down 43.3 percent (29 of 67) from beyond the arc, with that mark good for the No. 3 spot on the UAA ladder.
She has connected on 50 percent or better of her triple tries on seven occasions this year, and she is hitting at a 44.7 percent clip (17 of 38) from distance over the past eight games. Career-wise, her 85 career three pointers rank eighth on the program's all-time ladder.
NOTES – Junior Shellie Kaniut will enter the NYU game with 21 career outings of double-figure scoring, four of which have come this season … Khadijah Sayyid starts the weekend with three-point field goals in her last 18 games, the sixth longest streak in school history …
Fran Sweeney has recorded eight games of two or more three-point field goals this year and through Jan. 17, she ranks 10th among UAA players in three-point percentage (.378, 28-of-74) and is tied for No. 3 the conference in triples per game (2.0 tpg) … Sweeney has 74 career three pointers to her credit, good for 12th all-time in program history … Ilene Tsao's season-high tying 14 points vs. Brandeis represented her second double-figure effort of the season and 14th of her career … Michelle Bevan produced a team-best 15 points against Brandeis, the third time in the past four contests that she led the Eagles in that department … Bevan has scored 10 or more points in four of her nine games this season and in a total of 14 during her career … Heading into the weekend, Bevan's 10.0 per-game scoring average tops the club … Ilene Tsao recorded her 200th career assist in the Brandeis game and she holds down the No. 11 position on the school's all-time list … Tsao is doling out 4.5 assists per game, good for third place on the league chart … Sophomore Dumebi Egbuna tops the squad in rebounding with a 4.9 per-game showing, good for 21st place on the UAA chart … Egbuna has paced the Eagles in rebounding on five occasions this season including a 10-board afternoon vs. Maryville College that tied her career high and that represented her third career double-figure total in that category … In addition to her rebound average, Egbuna claims the No. 10 slot in the conference in field goal percentage (.463, 44 of 95) … Senior Sarah Arington logged a season-long 20 minutes of action in the NYU game and totaled eight points, her second-highest seasonal total, hitting four-of seven field goal tries … The Eagles are averaging 16.1 assists per game, good for the No. 4 spot in the UAA while ranking 40th among all D-III programs at the start of the week … Emory has enjoyed a decided advantage in the points-off-turnover category in five of the last six games (one game tied), generating 141 points (23. 5 ppg) in that stretch compared to the opposition's 70 points (11.7 ppg) … Emory has outscored the opposition in 35 quarters while being outpointed in 20 … Emory has won 28 of its last 37 and 44 of its last 56 home games … The Eagles have won their last 18 and are 42-4 during Thomaskutty's tenure as head coach when scoring 80 or more points (2-0 in '15-16; 1-0 in '14-15; 5-0 in 2013-14; and 7-0 in 2012-13) … Emory has finished with 10 or more steals in 11 games and stands second in the UAA with a 13.3 per-game average … At the start of the week, Emory ranked 16th among all D-III program in steals average … Emory has enjoyed an edge in second-chance points in nine of 14 games and is averaging 11.7 points vs. 10.1 for the opposition … Emory is averaging 30.6 points during the first half of action vs. 24.3 for the opposition … Over the final two quarters, the Eagles are averaging 32.9 points to their opposition's 28.7 … The fourth stanza has been Emory's most productive quarter in terms of scoring average (16.6 pts.) while the second quarter has been seen the Eagles post their biggest scoring differential against opponents, 227 (16.2 pts) vs. 165 (11.8 pts.) … Michelle Bevan has led or shared for team honors in rebound in the last three and in a total of four games this year, 10 during her career.