GAME FACTS – After playing its last seven games away from home, the Emory women's basketball team makes a long-awaited return to the Woodruff PE Center this weekend to take on a pair of University Athletic Association opponents. On Friday (Jan. 23), the Eagles will battle Case Western Reserve in a 6:00 pm tip before playing host to Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday in a 2:00 pm start.
Live Stats (http://www.emoryathletics.com/information/LiveStats) and a video stream (http://www.emoryathletics.com/information/webcasts) will be provided for both contests. Handling the play-by-play duties will be Justin Hanover.
THE COACHES – Emory Head Coach Christy Thomaskutty (Tulane, '96) is in her 12th season in charge of the Eagles. She assumed her current duties prior to the start of the 2003-04 campaign and enters the CWRU game with a school and career mark of 155-137. Last year, Thomaskutty guided the program to an overall record of 16-9, Emory's third-straight winning season. Thomaskutty is assisted by Misha Jackson, Kim Coleman and Morgan Crawford.
Jennifer Reimer (Lycoming, '94) is in her eighth campaign in charge of the Case Western Reserve program, and claims a 97-92 school record. In 18 campaigns as a head coach, which includes stops at Allegheny College and Mount Union, Reimer has compiled a career ledger of 254-193.
In her fourth season as the head coach of Carnegie Mellon is Jacquie Hullah (Cal State Fullerton, '78). Hullah enters a Friday evening road tilt at Rochester with a 43-46 school record career slate. She has had other head coaching college stints at Dartmouth College and Arizona State University.
2014-15 RECORDS – Emory stands 8-6 overall (0-3 UAA) after falling in a pair of league contests last weekend. On Friday, The Eagles battled No. 4-ranked Wash University on even terms throughout the entire 40 minutes before coming up short by a 66-59 margin. Emory then ventured to the University of Chicago where it fell behind by a 16-2 count before cutting the gap to three points midway through the seconds half. The rally came up short and the Eagles were saddled with a 70-57 setback.
Junior Khadijah Sayyid led Emory in scoring in both games, totaling 14 points against WU before racking up 23 points, 19 coming in the second half, against the Maroons. In addition to her scoring effort against Wash U, Sayyid also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.
Emory is 4-1 at home and 4-5 in road/neutral games this season.
Case Western Reserve comes to town sporting an overall record of 7-7. The Spartans are coming off a split of a pair of home games, dropping a 60-59 verdict to No. 8 New York University before chalking up a 58-51 outcome over Brandeis. CWRU is 5-2 at home and 2-5 in road/neutral contests.
Carnegie Mellon heads into a Friday showdown at Rochester looking to improve upon its 9-4 overall mark (1-2 UAA). The Tartans have dropped three of their last four games including home affairs to Brandeis (67-60) and NYU (83-72) last weekend.
SERIES RECORDS – Case will check into Friday's action with an all-time series edge of 24-18 against Emory. The teams split the series last season, with Emory winning at home, 76-52, before the Spartans claimed a 67-62 triumph in Cleveland. Emory has won 11 of 20 games vs. Case Western that have been played at the Woodruff PE Center.
In a series that started in February of 1988, Emory posts an all-time record of 34-17 against Carnegie Mellon. The Eagles have won the last eight matchups with three of the last six contests being decided by four or fewer points. Emory captured a 70-68 overtime decision in Atlanta last year, and then manufactured an 87-76 victory on the Tartans' home court. The Eagles have won the last four and stand 19-6 vs. CMU in games played in Atlanta.
EMORY TRIO TO SERVE AS CAPTAINS – Serving as captains of the 2014-15 Emory women's basketball team are juniors Khadijah Sayyid (Longmont, CO) and Ilene Tsao (Fremont, CA) and sophomore Shellie Kaniut (Vienna, VA).
SAYYID MOVING UP EMORY'S CAREER STEALS LADDER – Khadijah Sayyid came up with six steals over the weekend, boosting her career total to 142 thefts, good for the No.8 spot on the Eagles' all-time list. Sayyid recorded a pair of steals in the Wash U game and followed that with four takeaways against Chicago, her eighth outing this year of multiple thefts.
Entering Friday's action, Sayyid stands third on the UAA chart with an average of 2.6 steals per game. Sayyid has 35 career contests of two or more steals.
Sayyid has been a catalyst in helping Emory average 10.5 steals per game, good for a second-place tie among UAA teams.
EGBUNA MAKING HER MARK – Freshman Dumebi Egbuna has garnered plenty of court time this year, logging 20.1 minutes per outing and scoring at a 7.3 per-game clip while grabbing 4.4 rebounds. Egbuna's scoring mark is fourth on the team and ranks 27th on the UAA chart. She stands as the No. 3 scoring freshman in the conference, trailing only Rochester's Alexandra Leslie (15.0 ppg) and Chicago's Elizabeth Nye (7.4 ppg). Egubuna has scored in double figures on five occasions, most recently a season-high tying 12-point effort vs. Wash U that was second high on the team.
In the rebounding department, her average ranks fifth on the team. Egbuna has snared five or more caroms in six contests, and her 39 defensive boards are the third-highest total on the team.
NOTES – After logging a season-high 26 minutes in the UAA opener at Rochester, freshman Whitney Carmack (Poolesville, MD) delivered a season-high 11 points, her first double-figure scoring effort on the year, vs. Wash U … Carmack hit four-of-eight from the floor, including three of the squad's four three-point field goal attempts, against the Bears … After missing the previous six games with an injury, sophomore Shellie Kaniut returned to the lineup as a reserve last weekend, totaling 19 minutes vs. Wash U before picking up a dozen points, her fifth double-digit outing of the season, against Chicago … Khadijah Sayyid has scored in double figures in six of her last seven games and enters the weekend tops on the team and No. 3 in the UAA in scoring (15.6 ppg) … Sayyid finds herself prominently ranked in a variety of other UAA offensive categories including assists (t-5th, 3.5 apg), field goal percentage (10th, .449) and three-point percentage (3rd, .418) … Sayyid has 11 double-figure scoring games, including five games of 20 or more points, to her credit this year … Sayyid has grabbed a team-high 41 offensive rebounds this year and her 2.9 per-game average in that category is fifth among UAA players … Emory has 10 or more steals in 10 games this year … Emory has outrebounded seven of its 14 foes while being outboarded in six contests … Ilene Tsao leads the UAA in assists with a 4.1 per-game average … Tsao's six assists in the Chicago represented her fifth contest of five or more assists this year … Tsao has been Emory's leading rebounder in four games and her 4.9 per-game average in that category is tied for 16th on the UAA chart … Emory has 10 or more offensive rebounds in 13 games and ranks third among league teams with 14.8 boards-per game on that end of the floor …Emory is 8-0 when outshooting its opposition from the floor, 0-6 when being outshot … Emory reserves have scored 20 or more points in six games this year … Emory has won 20 of its last 24 and 36 of its last 43 home games … The Eagles have won their last 16 and are 40-4 during Thomaskutty's tenure as head coach when scoring 80 or more points (1-0 in '14-15, 5-0 in 2013-14, and 7-0 in 2012-13) … Emory is averaging 31.8 points in the first half of play and 32.3 points over the final 20 minutes of action … Opponents are averaging 28.8 points in the first half and 30.9 in the second half … Opponents have turned the ball over more than Emory in seven games … Emory has attempted more free throws than the opposition on four occasions while opponents have attempted more in nine contests (one game is a tie) … Emory has outscored opponents in 17 of 28 halves.