When the calendars turn to December, the Elon University women’s basketball team will know where it stands compared to the traditional Southern Conference powers like the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Davidson College.
Elon’s team is young, as its roster contains four highly touted freshmen and just one senior. But perhaps the quickest way to burgeon a team is to set up a difficult non-conference slate early in the season.
Enter the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament, located in Nashville, Tenn., from Nov. 29-30.
Four teams do not equal the mass spectacle of the NCAA Tournament, but it’s a good measuring stick to know just how far the Phoenix could go in the Southern Conference.
“A tournament of this nature is a great opportunity for us to play back-to-back games like we will see in the SoCon Tournament,” said assistant coach Emily Roberts. “We are preparing to win a championship, and this is a great opportunity to do that. We will be exposed to some very good basketball, and the chance to compete at that level in a tournament setting will benefit us in preparing for a SoCon championship down the road.”
Elon, who went 19-14 last season, Vanderbilt University (21-12), the University of Wisconsin (12-19) and Mercer University (20-12) are the participating teams, with the Vanderbilt Commodores looking like the early favorites. The Phoenix will get the first crack at downing Vanderbilt Nov. 29 when the tournament starts. The winner will either take on Wisconsin or Mercer in the championship or consolation game the following day. This will be the first match ever between the Elon and Vanderbilt women’s basketball programs.
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It’s an early test for what lies ahead, and Elon is jumping into the fray against bigger schools without fear — just ask freshman guard Lauren Brown.
“We are going to take the same approach playing Vanderbilt, Wisconsin or Mercer and [North Carolina State University] the same way we go into every game,” Brown said. “Focusing on the things we can control, such as defense and communication. At the end of the day, they will have five players on the court, and so will we.”
The defense and communication aspects come via constant practices to learn chemistry and timing with the rest of the players. To prepare the roster for a tough early season stretch, head coach Charlotte Smith and her staff have been ramping up the stakes during scrimmages.
“From a coaching staff standpoint, we are working to create an extremely competitive environment in practice every day,” Roberts said. “Drills are competitive and there are winners and losers, with consequences for losing. So the level we are competing at in practice on a daily basis is really preparing us for the competition we could face in that tournament and with some of our other out-of-conference opponents.”
Trips to N.C. State and West Virginia University after the tournament mean there will be little time to rest after the tournament style of play, but junior guard Zora Stephenson said the “one game at a time” philosophy holds true for the Phoenix.
“The team is excited to play the heavy competition that is scheduled in November, but we try not to look too far ahead,” Stephenson said. “Right now, we are just focused on getting better, and hopefully that will transition into the Thanksgiving Tournament down the road.”
Of course, with the team participating in a tournament, they’re not going home like the rest of the students. What does that mean for the team’s Thanksgiving plans?
“We are going to get in a film session, a practice and get some rest, maybe watch a little football, and we will do a big Thanksgiving Day dinner with the team and coaches, just like a family,” Roberts said. “If I had to choose a group of people to be away from my family with on Thanksgiving, I couldn’t ask for a better group to spend the holiday with.”