The Elon University women's basketball team will head into Southern Conference play on a streak the team didn't see coming: three loses in a row.

"I don't think anyone anticipated that we were going to go 0-2 this week," junior guard Ali Ford. "We found a lot of things we need to work on before Saturday."

The team played in the East Carolina Thanksgiving tournament Nov. 26 and 27, where it lost 69-65 to Robert Morris University and 60-46 to East Carolina University.

Ford led the team for the weekend with 29 points, playing 59 minutes. But she said the team had a lot to improve on.

The Phoenix made an average of 35.1 percent of its shots during the two games, while its opponents saw an average of 40.2 percent of their shots go through the basket.

"We know that other teams don't really have a control over us in the game," Ford said. "We control what we do. We need to take some extra time and focus on doing things that win ball games."

One of the factors she said wins games is rebounding, a battle that corresponds with Elon's outcome in games.

In the first two games of the regular season, Elon's two wins, the Phoenix outrebounded its opponents 109-66. But in its last three games, the team's adversaries have grabbed 146 rebounds, as opposed to Elon's 104.

In the East Carolina game, the Phoenix were outrebounded by 20, and in the UNC Charlotte loss Nov. 19, the team was outrebounded by 22 and lost by 31.

"We're missing a lot of firepower right now, but that's no excuse, and we need to get better," head coach Charlotte Smith said in a press release. "Going forward into SoCon play next weekend, we need to remain positive and focus on the details this upcoming week in practice."

The Phoenix will take on its first two SoCon foes Friday and Saturday at home: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Samford University, respectively.

The Mocs are first up on the slate at 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym — a team that Elon split games with last season.

"We know Chattanooga is a good team, and we have to play one of our best games to upset them," Ford said.

UT Chattanooga is 2-3 so far this season, with wins against University of Alabama at Birmingham and Indiana State University.

The offense has averaged 54.8 points a game, making on 38 percent of its shots.

"Our defense is going to be key this weekend, being able to fine tune our defense," Ford said. "We have to do what we know how to do and do it better than we have been doing."

But the team is playing at home, and the Phoenix is undefeated in Alumni Gym. And last year, Elon went 11-6 on its own court.

"We're excited to have home court," Ford said. "Hopefully there will be a good turn out, and we'll use that to our full advantage"