The Emory Athletics Weekly Preview for January 8th – January 14th. This preview is to serve as a weekly snapshot of all upcoming Emory athletic events for the coming week.
Women's Basketball:
The No. 7 ranked Emory women's basketball team (11-1, 1-0 UAA) is experiencing a historic start to its 2023-24 season. After falling in their season opener against No. 3 ranked Christopher Newport, the Eagles have won 11 straight games in dominant fashion. The 11-game winning streak is the second-longest in program history and it is just the second time the Eagles have held an 11-1 record through 12 games. Their No. 7 ranking is also tied for their highest ranking in program history.
Emory kicked off UAA competition this past weekend, opening with a 75-69 victory over Rochester. The Eagles jumped out to a 20-0 lead over the Yellowjackets and never looked back. The Yellowjackets mounted a comeback bid, but the Eagles continued to knock down shots of their own to pull away with a win over their conference rivals. Graduate student Claire Brock led the scoring with 23 points, scoring her 1,000th career point in the process. Brock is the 12th player in program history to achieve the feat. Junior Izzy Munson scored 19 points of her own, knocking down 3-of-5 from deep while also pulling down nine rebounds.
The Eagles have put on an offensive clinic this season, knocking down 47.4% of shots from the field and 39.2% of their threes, ranking sixth and third in the nation, respectively. Junior Daniella Aronsky is shooting the three as well as anyone in the nation this year, knocking down 53.45% of her shots from deep, the second-best clip in the nation. Brock is just behind her teammate, shooting 50% from beyond the arc, which is tied for the sixth best in the country.
Not only are the Eagles knocking down threes, but their perimeter defense is also amongst the best in the entire nation, holding opponents to 19.1% shooting from beyond the arc.
The Eagles will continue their UAA schedule this weekend with two road games coming against WashU and UChicago. Emory's upcoming opponents clashed last weekend, with WashU pulling out a 79-69 win over the Maroons. The Bears boast an 8-4 record so far, currently riding a five-game winning streak into the upcoming weekend. WashU is averaging 69.8 points per game but is shooting an impressive 44.3% from the field.
Meanwhile, UChicago is reeling, having lost five straight games after opening the year with seven straight wins. Three of the five losses have come against ranked opponents, including a 74-63 loss to No. 6 Wisconsin-Whitewater. Despite the Maroons' recent struggles, they are 26th in the nation in three-point percentage, knocking down 34.6% of their shots from beyond the arc.
The Eagles will start their road trip this weekend with the Bears on Friday before heading further north to Chicago to take on the Maroons this Sunday.
Where/When:
- Friday, January 12th – at WashU – 6:30 PM – WashU Field House (St. Louis, MO)
- Sunday, January 14th – at UChicago – 3:00 PM – Gerald Ratner Athletics Center (Chicago, IL)
Coverage:
- WashU
- UChicago
Men's Basketball:
The No. 22 ranked Emory men's basketball team (9-3, 0-1 UAA) is coming off a week in which they went 1-1 including a 16-point win over reigning-national champion Christopher Newport. The Eagles also started their UAA schedule this past weekend, falling to Rochester 79-77 after the Yellowjackets converted a late bucket to secure the win. Emory will have two chances to bounce back and gain some ground in the UAA standings with two conference opponents on deck for this weekend, taking on No. 16 WashU and UChicago.
The Eagles are led by sophomore guard Jair Knight, who is averaging 16.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. His counterpart, sophomore guard Ben Pearce, is serving as the facilitator on offense with 5.8 assists per game, the seventh best in the nation. Down low, junior Cale Martens is pulling down 8.1 rebounds per game while also having the ability to knock down the three, shooting 34% from beyond the arc. Martens' classmate and fellow forward Logan Shanahan is shooting an impressive 40.4% from three as well, providing the Eagles with a dynamic offensive attack.
Head coach Jason Zimmerman's fast-paced offense has proved to be difficult for opponents to defend, as the Eagles have put up 87.3 points per game, the 15th best in the nation. The Eagles take a good deal of three-point shots as well, attempting over 30 per game. When the three is falling for the Eagles, they're a tough unit to stop. Emory has done an impressive job at creating second chance points this season, pulling down 14.33 offensive boards per game, the 22nd most in the country.
Coming up this week, the WashU Bears are coming off a 69-68 loss to UChicago, suffering just their second loss of the year. The Bears are averaging 76.2 points per game while boasting a 10.9 scoring margin through 12 contests this year. Leading the way for WashU is junior forward Drake Kindsvater, who is averaging 15.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
The Eagles will conclude their road trip with a stop in Chicago to take on the red-hot Maroons, who have won six of their last seven. UChicago's lone loss over the seven games was to No. 9 Trinity (TX). They're also coming off a narrow victory over WashU to start their UAA schedule 1-0. Similar to Emory, the Maroons like to shoot the three, attempting 28.1 shots from deep per game. UChicago also holds their opponents to less than 65 points per game thus far but are allowing opponents to shoot 33.0% from three.
Emory will start with their game against the Bears on Friday before heading to Chicago for their contest on Sunday.
Where/When:
- Friday, January 12th – at WashU – 8:30 PM – WashU Field House (St. Louis, MO)
- Sunday, January 14th – at UChicago – 1:00 PM – Gerald Ratner Athletics Center (Chicago, IL)
Coverage:
- WashU
- Chicago
Track and Field:
After taking the month off from competition, the Emory track and field team will host the Emory Crossplex Showdown. The event will be one day and take place at the Birmingham Crossplex in Alabama. The track and field programs are returning some of their top runners from the year before, namely Henry Brandstadter. Coming off an impressive rookie campaign, the sophomore started his winter season with a second-place finish in the long-jump at the Birmingham-Southern Icebreaker last month. His distance of 7.08m was the ninth best in program history and he now owns six of the top-ten distances in program history. Junior high-jumper Geoff Point-du-Jour is also back for Emory, who finished 8th in the event with a height of 1.90m.
Senior Libby Ranocha is also returning for the Eagles this winter and got off to a solid start at the Birmingham-Southern Icebreaker as well. She posted a school record in the 1,000m after finishing with a time of 2:57.74. Juniors Dashiel Tao Harris and Audrey Johnson also posted personal bests in the 60m dash at their lone meet of indoor season so far.
The Eagles will host the one-day event in Birmingham on Sunday.
When/Where:
- Sunday, January 14th – Emory Crossplex Showdown – All Day – Birmingham Crossplex (Birmingham, AL)