TOWSON, Md. — Searching for its 20th win of the season, the Towson University women's basketball team is set to host Charleston on Sunday, Feb. 20 for a 2 p.m. contest.
CofC came out on top, 88-72, the last time the two teams met on Jan. 21. The win marked the first for head coach Robin Harmony against Towson and snapped a seven-game win streak for the Tigers against the Cougars.
Sunday's game will also serve as the team's annual Autism Advocacy game.
Last Time Out
A 41-point effort in the second half led Towson from behind to defeat UNCW, 67-51, on Feb. 18.
Allie Kubek led the team with 18 points while also adding eight rebounds and two steals. Aleah Nelson also contributed 17 points.
The Tigers played strong defense as well, as they beat the Seahawks off the glass, 48-30, including 21 offensive boards. The team also landed eight blocks to tie their season high.
Kornegay-Lucas Makes History
Kylie Kornegay Lucas' recorded a historic triple-double against Delaware (Feb. 9) with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. The feat marks the first at Towson since 1993, when Tanya Belair did it against Winthrop (17p, 10r, 10s). Chris Pulaski did it when the team was Division II, amassing 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks. It is also the first in the CAA since 2018 when Shay Burnett of Elon brought in 13 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.
In The CAA
Delaware and Drexel are tied for first place in the CAA, both with 12-1 records. Towson follows closely behind in third (10-3) while James Madison (7-6), Northeastern (6-7) and Charleston (6-7) round out the top of the standings.
Elon (5-7), William & Mary (4-9), Hofstra (2-10) and UNCW (0-13) follow to make up the rest of the league.
Sweepin' Up
The Tigers have completed four season sweeps of CAA opponents so far this season. The Black & Gold have earned two wins over William & Mary (Jan. 9 and Feb. 4), Elon (Jan. 7 and Feb. 6), James Madison (Jan. 16 and Feb. 13) and UNCW (Jan. 23 and Feb. 18).
19 & Counting
With a 19-5 record, Towson is searching for its 20th win of the 2021-22 campaign. With one more win, the Tigers would eclipse their third 20-win season in program history. The team's 20th win would also tie the program high for regular season victories and come up just two short of the most wins in a season in program history.
This would be head coach Diane Richardson's second 20-win season since coming to Tiger Town as she also reached 20 wins in the 2018-19 campaign. That team reached their 20th win on March 9. The 2007-08 team reached 22 total wins and got win #20 on March 6.
With their win over Hofstra (Jan. 30), the black & gold earned their 15th victory to make them the fastest Towson team in the NCAA era to reach 15 wins.
The Tiger reached win #15 on Jan. 30, while the 2007-08 team had reached 15 wins on Jan. 31, a day later.
D-FENSE!
The black & gold have held nine opponents to under 35.5 percent shooting in a game this season. Towson kept Frostburg State (32.8 percent, 19-of-58), Florida (35.2 percent, 25-of-71), Wofford (30.2 percent, 19-of-63), Millersville (19.1 percent, 9-of-47), Howard (25.4 percent, 18-of-71), Delaware State (32.7 percent, 18-of-55), East Carolina (25.3 percent, 19-of-75), UMass Lowell (29.3 percent, 17-of-58), UNCW (32.2 percent, 19-of-59), Hofstra (26.7 percent, 16-of-60) and Elon (33.9 percent, 21-of-62) all below the mark. When Towson holds its opponent below 34.9 percent shooting, they are 10-0.
The team has also held its opponents to less than 10 points in a quarter 12 times this season. The Tigers most recently held UNCW to eight points in the third quarter of action.
The black & gold have registered nine double-digit steal games, led by a season-high 18 takeaway performance against Millersville. Kubek leads the squad with 31 total steals.
Towson has generated 493 total points this season off turnovers, for 20.5 points per game. When the team registers more steals than their opponent, they are undefeated, 15-0.
Taking Care of the Ball
Towson has done an exceptional job of taking care of the ball this season, ranking fourth in the league with a 2.54 turnover margin. The team is also third in assist/turnover ratio (0.95).
Floor general Aleah Nelson has also been careful with the rock, as she ranks 11th nationally and first in the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.8).
When the Tigers have fewer turnovers than their opposition they are 16-0.
Prolific Scoring
At least two Tigers have cracked double figures in 23 of 24 outings so far this season. Nelson has now scored 10+ points in 22 of 24 contests including the last 10 outings.
Five Tigers have also registered +20 point performances in Nelson, Allie Kubek, Anissa Rivera, Kylie Kornegay-Lucas and Rayne Tucker. Nelson and Kubek pace the squad with five games over 20 points apiece.
Towson has had two players score 20 or more points four times this season:
- James Madison - Jan. 16 (Kubek-28, Rivera-20
- Northeastern - Jan. 28 (Nelson-24, Kubek-22)
- Delaware - Feb. 9 (Nelson-24, Kubek-20)
- James Madison - Feb. 13 (Rivera-21, Kornegay-Lucas-20)
When Towson lands four or more players in double-digits, they are 12-0.
Making Some Noise
Towson stayed at No. 22 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, released Feb. 8. The team was previously at No. 22 for two weeks.
BYU (20-2) remains in the top spot while Princeton (17-4), FGCU (22-2), Missouri State (17-5) and Stephen F. Austin (20-3) complete the top five.
Drexel (19-3, 11-1) leads the CAA in the poll as they are slotted at No. 13. Delaware (18-5, 12-1) sits slightly above Towson at No. 20.
The black & gold are still highest ranked CAA team in the NCAA NET rankings, sitting at No. 79. Drexel comes in at No. 85 followed by Delaware at No. 98.
Coming Home
Five of 14 student-athletes on Towson's roster represent their home state of Maryland. Aleah Nelson is the lone Baltimore native while Allie Kubek (Elkton), Ryann Evans (Columbia), Rayne Tucker (New Carrollton) and Anissa Rivera (Capitol Heights) are also from close by.
In The Rankings
The Tigers continue to be among the best rebounding teams in the country, ranking 13th in total rebounds with 1,090 total boards. The team is seventh in rebounds per game (45.42), sixth in offensive boards per game (16.5) and 16th in rebound margin (15.2).
The team is also killing it on offense, ranked 20th in scoring offense (76.4) and 18th in scoring margin (15.2).
The Tigers sit top 40 in the nation in 11 statistical categories.
Crashing The Boards
As one of the top-10 rebounding teams in the country, the black & gold have grabbed 40+ boards in all but two contests so far this season, including the last 12 outings. The team has also reached 50+ rebounds on four occasions.
Towson has either won the fight off the glass or tied in 18 games.
Both Anissa Rivera (6.8) and Kylie Kornegay-Lucas (6.0) are currently averaging over six boards per game.
Scouting The Cougars
Since getting the win over Towson in the teams' last meeting (Jan. 21) Charleston has gone onto drop four of its last eight outings. The Cougars most recently came back from a 20-point deficit to defeat James Madison on Friday, 71-69.
Jenna Annecchiarico paces CofC's offense, averaging 16.5 points per game. She also leads the CAA with 6.1 assists per game and ranks second in steals (3.0). Peyton Martin also leads her team averaging 10.0 boards.
Next Up
Towson will hit the road for its final conference road series of the season. The team will travel to take on Hofstra Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. before making the trip to face Northeastern on Feb. 27 at noon.
Tigers in the Community
For the 7th consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season. Towson ranked #1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition. Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations. The Tigers won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
