Emory Women's Basketball Face UAA Home Tests Against Carnegie Mellon And Case Western

GAME FACTS - After closing out the 2009 portion of its schedule with a pair of wins, the Emory women's basketball team opens 2010 with a pair of home University Athletic Association contests.  On Friday (Jan. 8), the Eagles welcome Carnegie Mellon into the Woodruff PE Center for a 6:00 p.m. tip before closing out the weekend with a Sunday afternoon contest against Case Western Reserve University beginning at 2:00 p.m.

Both of the games will be video streamed.  The link to access the games is: http://www.emoryathletics.com/information/webcasts.

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

Gerri Seidl  (Pittsburgh, 1978) is in her 26^th year as the head coach at Carnegie Mellon.  During her tenure, she has recorded a school and career record of 271-355.

In her third campaign at the helm of the Case Western Reserve program is Jennifer Reimer.  Prior to her current post, she served as the head coach at Allegheny College for eight years.

Emory's Top Defensive Scoring Efforts Under Thomaskutty

2009-10 RECORDS - Emory enters the weekend with an overall record of 6-4 (1-0 UAA).  The Eagles wrapped up 2009 on a high note, topping Birmingham Southern at home, 63-56, on Dec. 29, before registering a 65-63 win at Piedmont on Dec. 31. Emory currently is on a four-game winning streak.

Carnegie Mellon comes to town with a 7-4 won-lost ledger.  The Tartans saw a four-game win streak snapped on Sunday when they were nipped on the road by Stevenson University, 63-61.

Heading into its UAA opener at Rochester on Friday, the Spartans of Case Western stand 9-2. Case had a nine-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday when it came out on the short end of a 77-57 decision at Mount Union College.


SERIES RECORDS - Emory holds a 26-15 advantage in the all-time series against Carnegie Mellon.  The Eagles have captured the last four meetings including last season's 78-73 (at Emory) and 80-65 (at CMU) decisions.  Emory has won 15 of the 20 battles against CMU on its home floor.

 In a series that began in December of 1988, Case holds an 18-13 margin over Emory.  The teams split a pair of games last year with the Spartans winning, 90-66, at home while Emory bounced back to earn a 74-59 triumph in Atlanta. The Eagles stand 8-7 against Case in games played on its home floor.

EMORY DUO TO SERVE AS CAPTAINS - Coach Thomaskutty has announced that seniors Whitney Martin (Barrington, IL) and Keenan Whitesides (Wilmington, NC) will serve as captains of 2009-10 Emory squad.

EMORY SENIORS COME UP BIG AGAINST PIEDMONT - The Eagles' senior class of Whitney Martin, Keenan Whitesides and Mary Smith all came up with strong performances in the win over Piedmont, with the trio all scoring in double figures and accounting for 41 of the squad's 65 points.  Whitesides led all players with 15 points while Martin contributed 14 points along with a team-high 10 rebounds.  Finally, Smith, who scored a season-high 12 points, hit the winning shot with just five seconds left that snapped a 63-63 deadlock and giving Emory the two-point triumph.

MARTIN AMONG UAA LEADERS - Whitney Martin continues to pace the team in a number of statistical categories while maintaining a presence among UAA leaders. 
The 6-foot Martin's team-high 13.6 per-game scoring average ranks fifth on the league's chart while her 7.5 per-game effort in rebounding is good for the No. 5 position in the conference.  In addition, Martin has connected on 46.7 percent of her field goal opportunities which places her second on the squad and 11^th in the loop.

Martin has led the club in scoring in four games and has paced the team in rebounding on six occasions.  She has scored in double figures in her last seven and in a total of nine games this year, and has picked off six or more rebounds in seven affairs.

Emory's Top Offensive Scoring Efforts Under Thomaskutty 

NOTES - Birmingham Southern's 14 first-half points tied for the fewest points allowed in a half a play by a Thomaskutty-coached team ... Keenan Whitesides' 15 points against Piedmont was her sixth effort of double-figure scoring this year and  marked the third time this season that she ranked as the club's top point producer ... Whitesides, who tied her career high with 11 rebounds in the Birmingham Southern outing, has three performances of double digits in that category and topped the team in board play on four occasions ... Sophomore Becca Feldman saw a four-game double-figure scoring streak end when she finished with six points against Piedmont ... Feldman has started the last five contests and is averaging 11.8 points in that stretch ... In games played through Dec. 4, Emory is No. 4 among UAA teams in scoring offense (67.1 ppg) and is No. 3 in free throw percentage (.702) and steals (10.0 spg) ...  Whitesides is No. 10 on the UAA ladder in scoring (11.8 ppg) and No. 8 in both rebounding (6.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (.491) ...  The Eagles have converted 20 or more free throws in three contests this year and post a 3-0 mark in those affairs ... Emory has outscored the opposition in 11 of 20 halves ... Emory is 6-0 this season leading at halftime, 0-4 when trailing at the break ... Whitney Martin has recorded 72 blocked shots during her career, third on the Emory all-time chart and seven shy of tying Stephanie Seibert (2000-04) for second place ... Emory is averaging 30.8 points in the first half of action and 36.3 during the second half of play ...  Freshman Danielle Landry is 18^th among UAA cagers in rebounding (5.5 rpg) and has six or more caroms in six outings.