Cougars Face Winthrop in First of Two Home Games This Week

Tuesday, December 8

TD Arena

7:00 PM

College of Charleston

Winthrop

Cougars Face Winthrop in First of Two Home Games This Week

12/7/2020 3:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

CHARLESTON, S.C. – College of Charleston plays a pair of games at TD Arena this week beginning with a Tuesday contest against Winthrop at 7 p.m. The Cougars also face NC Wesleyan on Friday at 4 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the men taking on SC State at 7 p.m.

THE GAME
Who: Winthrop Eagles (1-1) at College of Charleston Cougars (1-2)
When: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 | 7 p.m.
Where: TD Arena | Charleston, S.C.
Tickets: There is no admission charge for CofC women's games this season
Broadcast (subscription required): FloHoops
Live Stats: Statbroadcast

COUGAR PROBABLE STARTERS
0 Madison Taylor, G, 5-8, Jr., Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft School (9.3 ppg, 3.0 spg)
2 Taylor Williams, F, 5-9, So., Daytona Beach, Fla./Father Lopez Catholic (8.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
5 Tyler Gray, G, 5-8, Fr., Bladensburg, Md./Elizabeth Seton (6.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg)
15 Arynn Eady, F, 6-1, Jr., Atlanta, Ga./St. Francis (5.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.7 spg)
23 Tyler Collins, G, 5-6, Jr., Atlanta, Ga./Woodward Academy (9.7 ppg, 4.0 apg)

HEAD COACH ROBIN HARMONY (14-19 in second season at CofC; 260-133 in 14 seasons overall)
Robin Harmony is in her second season at CofC after leading the Cougars to a 13-17 record in 2019-20, a six-win improvement over the previous season and the most wins since going 19-15 in 2013-14. The team also doubled its CAA win total from three to six, including a 73-59 victory over Drexel, one of only two CAA losses suffered by the eventual conference co-champions.

Harmony was 131-48 in six seasons at St. Thomas (Fla.) and 115-66 in six seasons at Lamar before coming to CofC. She began her coaching career as an assistant at Fairleigh Dickinson in 1987-88 and was on the staff at her alma mater, the University of Miami, from 1988-2005.

Harmony was first women's basketball player inducted into Miami's Athletic Hall of Fame and is among the school's all-time leaders in points (1,308), rebounds (750), assists (445) and steals (314).

COUGARS COMING OFF LOSS AT CLEMSON
CofC stayed with Clemson for most of the first half on Sunday before losing 87-65. The Cougars trailed only 28-26 after a pair of 3-pointers by Chelsea Wooten in the opening minute of the second quarter, and a 3 by Tyler Collins and driving jumper and free throw by Wooten made it 39-34 with under four minutes to go in the half.

Collins led CofC with 18 points and six assists, and Madison Taylor also reached double digits with 13 along with three steals. Amira Williams and Arynn Eady had eight rebounds to tie for the team lead with Williams adding eight points. The Cougars made 11 shots from beyond the arc, including three by Collins and Taylor.

3-POINTERS DROP AT LITTLEJOHN
The 11 3-pointers made by the Cougars against Clemson marked the 12th time that total has been reached in the Division I era. CofC made at least 11 treys four times last season, including a school-record 15 against Western Carolina on December 30, 2019.

Chelsea Wooten has made seven of the Cougars' 19 3-pointers through three games this season, including four in the win over Wofford. Tyler Collins is CofC's active career leader in 3-pointers with 72 followed by
Madison Taylor with 59.

ABOUT WINTHROP
After dropping their opener to Wofford, the Eagles evened their record at 1-1 with a 65-47 win over SC State last Wednesday. Myra Strickland (14 points) and Madison Ervin (10) scored in double figures, and Jaelyn Royal grabbed nine rebounds. Strickland scored 24 points in the loss to Wofford and is averaging 19.0 points per game.

COUGARS VS. EAGLES
CofC holds a 28-4 lead in the series including 11-4 since beginning its transition to a Division I program in 1989-90. The Cougars won last year by a score of 84-73 in Rock Hill behind a career-high 29 points by Tyler Collins and 11 rebounds from Arynn Eady. Winthrop won the most recent matchup at TD Arena, claiming a 71-64 win on November 29, 2018.

COLLEGE STARS COACHING AGAINST COUGARS
Winthrop is led by interim head coach Semeka Randall-Lay, a highly-decorated player during her career at Tennessee. She scored 1,915 points and was a Kodak First Team All-American and the Women's Basketball Journal Defensive Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000. Randall-Lay averaged 15.9 points on Tennessee's undefeated national championship team in 1998.

Randall-Lay is one of four college basketball stars who have or will coach against the Cougars this season. Dawn Staley (South Carolina) twice won the Naismith Trophy as the national player of the year at Virginia, was the Most Outstanding Player of the 1991 Final Four and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2013.

Trisha Stafford-Odom (NC Central) led Cal to its first two NCAA Tournament appearances and was a second team All-American in 1992. Charlotte Smith (Elon) was the Most Outstanding Player of the 1994 Final Four, pulling down 23 rebounds and hitting a buzzer-beating 3 to lead North Carolina past Louisiana Tech in the championship game. Smith earned All-America honors the following season.

EADY CLOSING IN ON REBOUNDING MILESTONE
Junior forward Arynn Eady needs eight more rebounds to reach 500 in her career, and she is 78 away from moving into the Top 10 in school history. Eady's average of 7.8 rebounds per contest is the fourth-highest mark in the Cougar record book.

Eady averaged 9.7 rpg last season to lead the CAA, and her 290 total boards are the second most in a season in school history. She paced the CAA in both offensive (3.6) and defensive (6.1) rebounds. Her 18 rebounds against UNCW (1/26/20) and William & Mary (2/7/20) are tied for the fourth most in program history.

COLLINS DISHES OUT THE ASSISTS
Junior guard Tyler Collins has recorded six assists in each of the past two games to increase her career total to 226. She needs only 28 more to crack the Top 10 at CofC. As a freshman in 2018-19, Collins had 131 assists, the sixth most in a season in school history, and ranked third in the CAA with 4.4 apg. She tied the school mark with 12 assists in her collegiate debut vs. North Greenville.

COUGARS LAND OUTSTANDING RECRUITING CLASS
The CofC coaching landed the top recruiting class in school history, ranking first in the CAA and No. 47 in the nation according to the Dan Olson Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. The Cougars added wing Grace Abercrombie and point guard Bria McClure from Texas and wing Anani Humphrey from Maryland. Abercrombie was ranked No. 162 by Dan Olson, McClure was No. 187 and Humphrey was No. 209.