Elon women's hoops to open Schar Center with game against UNC

Yet another premier event is coming to the Elon University campus this upcoming year, as Phoenix women’s basketball head coach Charlotte Smith has announced her squad will open Schar Center with a game against the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.

Smith will lead the maroon and gold versus her alma mater on Tuesday, Nov. 6, marking the first regular-season basketball game inside Elon’s new state-of-the-art arena.
 
Women’s basketball season tickets for the 2018-19 season will go on sale to the general public on Aug. 7, and the remainder of Elon’s 2018-19 non-conference schedule will be announced at a later date. The team’s Colonial Athletic Association slate was announced earlier in July and can be viewed here.
 

​”We are both grateful and excited about our transition to our new home in the Schar Center,” Smith said. “It is an impressive first-class facility that we look forward to competing in. We have a competitive non-conference schedule that will be exciting to watch. I am thrilled and honored to open with a premier game against my alma mater, UNC.”
 
This year’s meeting marks the third time in five seasons Elon and North Carolina will meet on the hardwood. In 2014-15 and 2016-17, the Phoenix traveled to Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill and dropped tight contests. Last time the two met on Dec. 4, 2016, Elon battled through a 78-73 loss after trailing by just one heading to the fourth quarter.
 
The Schar Center opener marks the third time Smith – a standout student-athlete for the Tar Heels from 1991 through 1995 – will go head-to-head with her former coach, Sylvia Hatchell, but it marks the first time the two will meet in Elon. North Carolina has visited Elon twice to date with both matchups coming in the 1970s. Elon won both games in Alumni Gym, defeating the Tar Heels 65-57 and 83-71 under Hall of Famer and former Elon head coach Kay Yow.
 
Schar Center will be the premier gathering space for the Elon community and surrounding region when it opens this fall. The 5,100-seat facility will provide an elite venue for Phoenix basketball and volleyball games in addition to convocations, speakers and other major campus events.

The facility is named for Dwight and Martha Schar, of Palm Beach, Fla. For an overview of the center and photos of its construction, visit here.