The Elon University women’s basketball team struggled to defend Vanderbilt University in the opening game of the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday, Nov. 29, and fell 88-66. The Commodores shot 11 of 21 from behind the arc and grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, compared to Elon’s 5 of16 from deep and just 10 offensive rebounds.
Senior guard Jasmine Lister had a game-high 22 points, seven assists and made four three-pointers for Vanderbilt.
A three-pointer by freshman guard Rebekah Dahlman put Vanderbilt on the board first, but junior forward Sam Coffer responded with a three-pointer of her own to tie the game. The Commodores added four more three-pointers to get a 17-5 lead with 15:23 to go in the first half. Vanderbilt’s offense continued to run smoothly and a made free throw by sophomore guard Jasmine Jenkins extended the lead to 51-27 with 1:32 remaining in the first half.
Sophomore forward Autumn Carter and Elon scored first in the second half with a layup to make it 55-33. Vanderbilt got a 70-45 lead with 14:14 to go off of a score by freshman guard Kylee Smith. The Phoenix got within 14 after a layup by junior center Shannen Cochraham made it 74-60, but Vanderbilt stymied Elon’s offense in the last five minutes to cruise to victory.
Cochraham scored 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting for Elon and got seven rebounds in just 19 minutes. Junior guard Zora Stephenson went 4 of 10 from the field to finish with 14 points. Coffer had 10 points, five assists and three blocks.
For Vanderbilt, senior guard Christina Foggie had 18 points and went 5 of 7 from deep. Smith added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Elon will play tomorrow, Nov. 30, against Mercer University, who fell 77-72 to the University of Wisconsin.