SPORTS

 

DAVIDSON, N.C. — The Davidson women’s basketball team will host its official home opener on Friday night, welcoming Columbia University in to Belk Arena, before hosting Jacksonville State during a Sunday matinee.

Friday night’s tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. while Davidson will take on the Gamecocks on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both match ups will be broadcasted to ESPN+ with Derek Smith on the call.

Promotions:

• The women’s basketball team will be signing autographs post-game!
• All fans will be offered free admission if they bring in a canned food item.

Series History:

• Friday night will be Davidson’s third meeting with the Columbia Lions, as the all-time series is split evenly 1-1.
• The Wildcats first defeated Columbia in 1996-97, before meeting during the 2019-20 season.
• Last time out against the Lions, the ‘Cats fell 63-60 in New York. Then freshman Suzi-Rose Deegan scored 21 points.
• Sunday’s meeting with the Gamecocks will be the first time in program history that Davidson will take on Jacksonville State. 

Five Things to Know:
Last Time Out
The Wildcats tipped off their 2021-22 season on Tuesday night at No. 24 Virginia Tech, where the Hokies pulled out a 76-57 victory. Despite the result, Davidson managed to out-score the Hokies 35-30 in the second half and bounced back to shoot 36.7 percent from the field over the final three quarters of play. Davidson had its best 10-minute stretch in the third, hitting nine of 18 field goal attempts (50%) and drained seven of its first 11 field goals, including a pair of three’s from seniors Cassidy Gould and Sarah Konstans. Junior forward Adelaide Fuller finished the night with a team-best 15 points and four rebounds. As a team the Wildcats were solid defensively, holding Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley to just six points. Kitley’s six points was the second lowest scoring performance of her career, as the junior center is currently on the Wade Trophy and Wooden Award watch lists, two of Division I women’s basketball’s highest honors.

The Sutphin File 
Forward Elle Sutphin joins the Wildcats for the 2021-22 campaign, after spending her first two seasons of college basketball with the NC State Wolfpack. The redshirt sophomore comes to Davidson after earning an ESPNW Scout Grade of 97 during high school, where she was the No. 39 ranked recruit in the class of 2020 and No. 1 across the state of North Carolina. In the Wildcats’ preseason exhibition game against Newberry, Sutphin ended the night with 18 points in 16 minutes of work, where she shot 9-of-12 from the field.

Top Heavy
Davidson’s 15-woman roster consists of seven returners who combine for over 8,000 minutes played throughout their careers. Senior captain Cassidy Gould has the most on-court experience in her tenure, totaling 2,339 minutes played and averages 27.5 minutes of action per game. Suzi-Rose Deegan also returns to the ‘Cats with an Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Third Team selection, despite appearing in just 10 games last season due to injury. During the 2019-20 campaign Deegan made a splash among the league, garnering an A-10 Rookie of the Year nod at the conclusion of the season.

Aussie Magic
The Wildcats’ Australian pipeline continues to grow, as the ‘Cats now have five Aussie natives on their roster, in addition to Associate Head Coach James Janssen who is native to Melbourne, Australia. Just behind the University of Portland’s seven Australians on its roster, Davidson has the second-most Aussies on a roster across NCAA Division I women’s basketball. Last season, Cassidy Gould, Adelaide Fuller and Suzi-Rose Deegan were among Davidson’s top-four scorers, as the trio averaged a combined 30.2 points per game. 

Fresh Faces
Aside from Elle Sutphin the Wildcats have eight newcomers on their roster including redshirt freshman Sallie Schutz and true freshmen Issy Morgan and Tomisin Adenupe. During the exhibition match against Newberry, Adenupe and Morgan jumped onto the scene with 13 and seven points, respectively. Adenupe shot 6-of-9 from the floor and 1-of-1 from beyond the arc, while Morgan dished seven assists and grabbed seven rebounds to pair with her seven points. Schutz, a Georgia native, will look to make her college basketball debut after being sidelined due to injury last season. The forward is a four-time All-State selection and checked in at No. 142 on World Exposure’s 2020 Report Rankings. 

For the latest information on Davidson Basketball, make sure to check out davidsonwildcats.com. You can also find the team on social media at @DavidsonWBB on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.