Emory Women's Basketball Closes Out 2008-09 Season

(Feb. 24) - GAME FACTS - The Emory University women's basketball team will conclude its 2008-09 season on Saturday with a home date against Case Western Reserve University.  Action for the Senior Day contest is slated for a 2:00 p.m. start.

THE COACHES - Emory Head Coach Christy Thomaskutty (Tulane, '96) is in her sixth season at the helm of the program.  She assumed her current duties prior to the start of the 2003-04 campaign. 

In her second year as head coach at Case is Jennifer Reimer (Lycoming College).  Prior to her current position, Reimer served as the head coach at Allegheny College.

Emory's Top Defensive Scoring Efforts Under Thomaskutty

2008-09 RECORDS - Emory starts the weekend with an overall ledger of 12-12, 3-10 in the UAA.  The Eagles dropped road games last weekend to Brandeis University, 67-57, and No. 19 New York University, 71-60.

Case comes to town with an overall mark of 10-14, 2-10 in the UAA.  The Spartans dropped road decisions to NYU (74-56) and Brandeis (76-56) last weekend.

SERIES RECORDS - CWRU holds an 18-12 lead in the all-time series with Emory that started in December of 1988.  The Spartans have captured the last three games between the schools including a 90-66 victory earlier this season in Cleveland.  Each squad has recorded seven wins in contests played on Emory's home court.

LILLARD A FORCE AT BOTH ENDS OF THE COURT -  Junior LeShonda Lillard opened last weekend by tying Lora Turner for team scoring honors with 17 point against Brandeis before notching a team-best 13 points on Sunday against NYU.  Her efforts against the Judges and Violets boosted her total to 12 games of double-digit point production this year.  Her 11.3 points per-game scoring average places her second on the team and 11th among UAA players.  In addition, she doled out five assists in each game, increasing her '08-09 total to 89, just three shy of tying for 10th place on the school's seasonal chart.  Heading into the final game of the season, her 3.9 per-game average in assists stands third among league cagers.

Defensively, Lillard has chalked up 66 steals this year, good for the No. 2 spot on the Eagles' seasonal chart. Her 2.9 per-game effort in that category places her fourth in the UAA.  Career-wise, Lillard ranks prominently on Emory's all-time list in steals with her mark of 123 placing her seventh.  She is two shy from tying Christie Howard (1996-200) for the sixth spot.

Emory's Top Offensive Scoring Efforts Under Thomaskutty 

TURNER TALES - Senior Lora Turner put together a pair of strong outings last weekend, coming through with back-to-back double doubles. Against Brandeis, the 5-foot-11 Turner registered 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds before tallying 10 points and 11 boards against NYU.   She has three straight double-doubles to her credit and four on the year.  She is the first Eagle to chalk up three consecutive double-doubles since Stephanie Seibert closed out the 2003-04 campaign with three straight. Lora will enter her final collegiate game with a total of 11 double-doubles.

Turner is averaging a team-high 16.3 points per game, good for the No. 2 spot on the UAA list. In conference affairs, she is tossing in 15.8 points per effort, also good for second place in the league.  She owns 22 games of double-figure scoring this season and has nine outings of 20 or more points to her credit.  Scoring in double digits is nothing new to the 5-foot-11 Turner as she has totaled 10 or more points in 73 of 98 career contests.

As a compliment to her scoring numbers, Turner has converted 50 percent or better from the field in 17 games and her 58.5 percent mark from the floor paces both the club and the UAA. 

Turner, the owner of 17 performances of 20 or more points during her Emory tenure, has produced a career total of 1,283 points heading into this weekend, good for third place on the school's all-time list.  In addition, her 608 career rebounds is good for the No. 8 spot on the Eagles' all-time chart.  

SENIORS FAREWELL - In addition to Turner suiting up for the last time in an Emory uniform,  a total of five other seniors will be recognized prior to Saturday's game.  They are Kendall Boyd (Eden Prairie, MN); Jenny Kraus (Ann Arbor, MI), Kerry Madison (Los Angeles, CA), Erica Kaplan (Commack, NY) and manager Patrice Entenman (Seattle, WA). 

Kerry Madison -- Has played in a total of 96 games during her career, 41 as a starter ...  Either led or shared for the team's rebounding lead a total of 10 times including three occasions during the 2008-09 campaign ... Earlier this season, she registered a career-high 18 points against Washington University.

Jenny Kraus - Has appeared in 72 career games and recorded 14 double-figure scoring contests, eight of which have come this season ... The 2008-09 campaign has seen her average a career best 7.7 points per game while knocking down 25 three-point field goals  ... Came through with a career-high 23 points earlier this year in a game against the University of Chicago ... Stands 12th on the school's all-time list with 50 three-point field goals.

Kendall Boyd - Has taken to the court in 87 games during her career, 33 as a starter ... Owns eight outings of double-figure scoring, four of those coming this season ... Earlier this year in a game against Baruch College, she notched a career-high 24 points in an 88-80 win ... Is tied for the No. 9 spot on the school's all-time list with 68 three-point field goals and is fourth in three-point field goal percentage.

Erica Kaplan - Was inactive during the 2008-09 season ... During her three seasons with the program, she played in 74 games, 62 as a starter ... Holds down the No. 4 position on the school's all-time chart with 102 three-point field goals ... No. 2 at Emory in career three-point field goal percentage ... Recorded a total of 32 career outings of double-figure scoring.

NOTES -  Sophomore Liz Brandt gave the Eagles a productive 11-minute stint off the bench in the NYU game, scoring a career-high eight points while grabbing three rebounds ...  Senior Jenny Kraus picked up 12 points against NYU, her eighth double-figure scoring performance this season ... Kraus shot 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the floor, including 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from three-point range, in last weekend's action ... In her last three efforts, she is averaging 10.0 points per game ... The Eagles have 13 games of double-digit steals this season and rank No. 1 among UAA teams in that department (10.2 spg) ... Emory has a team total of 245 steals this season, tying the sixth-highest mark in school history ... Emory has outshot 10 opponents from the floor and are 9-1 in those affairs ... The Eagles stand 10-5 when turning the ball over on fewer occasions than their opponents ... Junior Whitney Martin is averaging 6.3 rebounds per contest, second on the squad and good for an eighth-place deadlock among UAA players ... Martin has snatched six or more rebounds in 15 contests this year and has either led or shared for team honors in that department on 10 occasions in '08-09 ... Martin also leads the team with 28 blocked shots, second on Emory's seasonal listing ... Emory has outrebounded foes in seven games this season and owns a 7-0 mark in those contests ... The Eagles are 13-0 during Thomaskutty's tenure as head coach when scoring 80 or more points ... In overall games, Emory is No. 2 in the UAA in scoring offense (70.0 ppg) and No. 3 in field goal percentage (.418).

Emory's Career Rebounding Leaders