TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University women's basketball team is set to host Drexel for a weekend series at SECU Arena. Both contests are slated for a 2 p.m. start and will be available to stream on FLoHoops.com.
Saturday the Tigers with have their Autism Awareness game. Five members of Towson's Hussman Center for Adults with Autism will announce the team's starting lineup pregame in addition to a halftime interview with Karen Eskrow, the Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
The team will celebrate Senior Day on Sunday, honoring the squad's four seniors in Kionna Jeter, Tess Borgosz, LaKaitlin Wright and Wiebke "Tilly" Schwartau along with Director of Player Development, Kristina Karp.
Towson Athletics and TUAIDE will celebrate TU Cultural Appreciation Night (TUCAN) for women's basketball during Sunday's game. The team will be recognizing "Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle" which is a grassroots organization whose mission is to advance public policy and the interests of African Americans in Baltimore through youth leadership, development, political advocacy and innovation. To connect with local advocates working to empower OUR community visit lbsbaltimore.com and follow them on social media @lbsbaltimore. TUAIDE is committed to social justice for sustainable change.
LAST TIME OUT (Feb. 14)
Towson split its previous weekend series at Northeastern, winning Saturday, 90-69, but falling 72-62 on Sunday. The game was very close between the two teams through three quarters with a score of 48-44 in the Huskies' favor. Northeastern continued a 12-1 run into the final quarter to gain the eight-point edge. The Tigers' defense did hold the Huskies to no field goals for the final two minutes of play, but Northeastern made seven from the line during the span to secure the victory. Skye Williams had a breakout game off the bench, netting a career-high 20 points and three 3-pointers. Allie Kubek also added a career-best 18 points and a game-high nine boards.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
The Tigers are currently second in CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) standings with an 11-4 (6-2 CAA) record. Towson has the third highest scoring offense in the country and first in the conference with 86.5 points per game. Jeter leads the offensive charge, averaging 25.0 points per game to rank sixth in the nation. The senior also sits inside the top-10 in 3-point field goals made with 3.20 per game. Dating back to the team's win over the College of Charleston on Feb. 7, Jeter posted three straight games with at least 30 points, becoming the first CAA player to achieve that feat since Delaware's Elena Delle Donne did it in the 2012-13 season as well as the first player to do it at Towson since joining the conference in 2001-02. Aleah Nelson also represents Towson in national rankings at third in assists per game, averaging 7.0. Nelson leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage at 42.3 percent. In addition, Shavonne Smith leads the CAA in field goal percentage with 54.4 percent from the floor. Off the glass, Kubek tops the team with 6.5 rebounds.
DYNAMIC DUO
Towson is one of two programs in the country to have a player rank inside the top-10 in both points (Jeter) and assists (Nelson) per game. Nelson has assisted on 37 of Jeter's field goals this season, resulting in 96 points. The bond has strengthened during CAA play, with 26 assisted field goals and 68 points. Iowa is the only other program in the country to sit top-10 in both categories.
THE DREXEL SERIES
(Dragons leads 59-21)
Drexel leads the all-time series between the two programs, 57-21. The Dragons have won the last two meetings against the Tigers. However, Towson's most recent victory came in the 2019 CAA Championship game on March 16, 2019 to secure the conference title. The Tigers are 13-21 at SECU Arena against the Dragons.
LOOKING INTO THE DRAGONS
Drexel is coming off two losses against Delaware losing 60-68 and 55-66 over this past weekend. The Dragons are 9-6 (6-4 CAA) sitting third in the conference standings. Their top scorer, Hannah Nihill, is averaging 16.7 points per game as well as 2.5 steals per game. Mariah Leonard leads the team with 7.3 boards per game and Maura Hendrixson averaging 4.6 helpers.
LAST TIME AGAINST DREXEL
Towson dropped a close 63-60 decision the last time the two programs met in the final home game of the regular 2020 season for the Tigers. Q. Murray put the score within two points with 1:25 left to play in the fourth quarter, but Drexel scored twice to end the contest to seal the victory. Nukiya Mayo and Jeter both dropped 17 points each as well as Smith who added 11 to join them in double-figures.
JETER MOVES TO FOURTH
Kionna Jeter is currently at fourth overall on the Towson University women's basketball all-time scoring list. The Spartanburg, S.C. native has 1,473 career points. Next on the list is Danielle Barry with 1,555 points.
