Cougars Travel to Towson for CAA Weekend Series

Saturday, February 6

Towson, Md.

1:00 PM

College of Charleston

Towson

Photo by: AlSamuels.com

2/5/2021 10:38:00 AM | Women's Basketball

CHARLESTON, S.C. – College of Charleston plays the first of consecutive CAA road series when the Cougars visit Towson for games against the Tigers on Saturday and Sunday.

THE GAMES
Who: College of Charleston Cougars (6-4, 2-2 CAA) at Towson Tigers (7-3, 2-1 CAA)
When: Saturday, February 6, 2021 and Sunday, February 7, 2021 | Both games at 1 p.m.
Where: SECU Arena | Towson, Md.
Broadcast: FloHoops
Live Stats: Saturday StatBroadcast | Sunday StatBroadcast

COUGAR PROBABLE STARTERS
4 Amira Williams, F, 5-11, Fr., Winston-Salem, N.C./Winston-Salem Christian (6.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.3 spg)
5 Tyler Gray, G, 5-8, Fr., Bladensburg, Md./Elizabeth Seton (10.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.4 spg)
11 Chelsea Wooten, G, 5-8, Fr., McKinney, Texas/McKinney North (8.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 18 3-pointers)
15 Arynn Eady, F, 6-1, Jr., Atlanta, Ga./St. Francis (8.6 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 1.6 spg, 2.4 bpg)
23 Tyler Collins, G, 5-6, Jr., Atlanta, Ga./Woodward Academy (14.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.2 spg, 16 3-pointers)

HEAD COACH ROBIN HARMONY (19-21 in second years at CofC; 265-135 in 14 years 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 her alma mater, the University of Miami, for two seasons (1985-87) and spent the 1987-88 campaign at Fairleigh Dickinson before returning to Miami from 1988-2005, including the last 12 as associate head coach.

COUGARS COMING OFF THRILLING WIN OVER JAMES MADISON
Tyler Collins scored 27 points, two shy of her career high, to lead CofC to a 65-63 win over James Madison last Sunday at TD Arena. The win was the first over the Dukes since February 27, 2014 and broke a 15-game losing streak in the series.

Collins scored the last nine points of a 15-0 first quarter run to put the Cougars in command. After JMU pulled to within one in the closing minute, Collins capped her outstanding afternoon with a driving layup that provided the final margin of victory.

Arynn Eady continued to be a force on the defensive end with a game-high 11 rebounds and five blocked shots. CofC held a 38-33 advantage on the glass, held the Dukes to 39.2 percent shooting and forced 16 turnovers, in-cluding five steals by Amira Williams.

EADY STARRING ON DEFENSIVE END
Arynn Eady enters the weekend ranked second in the CAA and tied for 34th nationally with an average of 10.0 rebounds per game. The junior forward has at least eight rebounds in eight of 10 games this season including five with 11 or more. She is seeking her second straight CAA rebounding title after averaging 9.7 per contest a year ago.

In addition to her rebounding prowess, Eady has blocked 20 shots in the last five games and set a career high with five against William & Mary and James Madison. Her average of 2.4 per game leads the CAA and is 31st in the country. Eady is tied for sixth in school history (Division I era) in that category.

Eady on the CofC Career Rebounding List (at least two years with CofC as a Division I member)
845 – Breanna Bolden (2013-17)
805 – Wilma Simpson (1999-03)
789 – Jodie Olofson (1995-99)
680 – Natalie Seel (1990-94)
674 – Latisha Harris (2009-13)
651 – Tara Currin (1989-93)
635 – Nikki Williams (2005-09)
633 – Sarah Moye (2005-09)
628 – Deidra Jones (2006-10)
570 – Patrice Bryant (2001-05)
568 – Arynn Eady (2018-present)

Eady on the CofC Career Blocked Shots List (at least two years with CofC as a Division I member)
364 – Denise Hogue (1989-93)
164 – Erika Smith (2004-08)
139 – Mikaela Hopkins (2011-15)
129 – Wilma Simpson (1999-03)
85 – Latisha Harris (2009-13)
82 – Jackie Luna-Castro (2014-16)
82 – Arynn Eady (2018-present)

COLLINS DISHES OUT THE ASSISTS
Junior guard Tyler Collins has recorded 247 assists in her career and needs only seven more to move into the Top 10 in CofC's Division I era history (since 1991-92). Collins enters the weekend ranked seventh in the CAA with an average of 3.3 assists per game, including six in consecutive games against Wofford, Clemson and Winthrop earli-er this year.

As a freshman in 2018-19, Collins had 131 assists and ranked third in the CAA with 4.4 per game. She tied the school mark with 12 assists in her collegiate debut vs. North Greenville.

Collins is also on a scoring surge, having averaged 21.0 the past three games including a season-high 27 against James Madison last Sunday. That has raised her season average to 14.6, good for ninth in the CAA.

Collins on the CofC Career Assists List (at least two years with CofC as a Division I member)
593 – Jillian Brown (2010-14)
466 – Tonia Gerty (2007-11)
413 – Jade Hughes (2005-07, 2008-10)
397 – Marketta Talley (2002-06)
334 – Shiclasia Brown (2014-18)
303 – Shanna Mickens (2000-04); Sara Weaver (1997-01)
273 – Debbie Trowbridge (1993-97)
257 – Rachel King (2001-05)
254 – Natalie Seel (1990-94)
247 – Tyler Collins (2018-present)

GRAY, WILLIAMS EARN CAA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HONORS
Five freshmen see regular playing time for the Cougars and two have been named CAA Rookie of the Week this season.

Tyler Gray was selected on December 21 after scoring 17 points to go along with seven rebounds, four steals and three assists against NC Central. Amira Williams received the award on January 25 on the strength of 20 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots in a split against William & Mary.

Gray, Williams and a third freshman – Chelsea Wooten – have played in all 10 games have been together in the starting lineup the past three. Gray has started all 10 contests, Williams the past six and Wooten the last three.

Two other freshmen have been in the regular rotation, with Zoe McCrary playing in 10 games and starting once and Anika McGarity seeing action in eight games off the bench.

PERKINS RETURNS TO ACTION
Junior guard Latrice Perkins saw her first playing time of the season last weekend and was on the floor for a total of five minutes in the two games against James Madison. Perkins was injured against Northeastern late in the 2019-20 season.

Perkins was on the All-CAA third team last year after ranking ninth in the CAA with an average of 13.5 points per game. She also paced the Cougars with 53 steals and was second with a .457 field goal percentage and 50 assists.

COUGARS IN THE CAA STATS (TOP 4 TEAM RANKINGS)
Scoring: 67.5 (4th)
3-Point Field Goals Made Per Game: 7.1 (1st)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage Defense: .309 (4th)
Blocked Shots Per Game: 4.40 (1st)
Steals Per Game: 8.90 (3rd)

Scoring: Tyler Collins (14.6, 9th); Tyler Gray (10.5, 19th)
Rebounding: Arynn Eady (10.0, 2nd), Amira Williams (5.6, 17th)
3-Pointers Made Per Game: Chelsea Wooten (1.8, 9th), Tyler Collins (1.6, 11th)
Free Throw Percentage: Tyler Collins (.791, Tied 8th)
Assists: Tyler Collins (3.3, 7th)
Assist-Turnover Ratio: Tyler Collins (+1.4, 5th)
Blocked Shots: Arynn Eady (2.4, 1st), Amira Williams (0.8, 9th)
Steals: Arynn Eady (1.6, 13th)

ABOUT TOWSON (7-3, 2-1 CAA)
Like the Cougars, Towson's schedule has been greatly affected by Covid protocols. The Tigers have played only three CAA games, losing once to James Madison and sweeping Hofstra.

Senior Kionna Jeter has been named the CAA Player of the Week two times this season after being selected the league's preseason player of the year. She ranks sixth in the nation with an average of 24.7 points per game and is fourth in the CAA with 2.3 steals per game.

Aleah Nelson (14.7 ppg) and Shavonne Smith (14.6) are eighth and tied for ninth, respectively, in the league in scoring, and Smith (.542) and Allie Kubek (.538) ranked second and third, respectively, in field goal percentage.

Nelson also tops the CAA in 3-point percentage (.489) and assists (7.0 per game) and is third in free throw per-centage (.839), one spot behind Jeter (.842).

COUGARS VS. TIGERS
Towson holds a 12-4 lead in the series and has won five in a row. Last year the Tigers won 79-62 at TD Arena and 83-72 at home. The Cougars last defeated the Tigers on December 31, 2017, an 80-67 victory in Towson. That is the lone win in six games in the series for CofC away from Charleston.