It was at a pregame shootaround Monday morning when Ali Ford made a statement.
The junior guard decided she would heave a basketball from half-court. But not in the traditional sense. As she got ready to launch, she told her roommate – junior forward Kelsey Evans – to be ready for something out of the ordinary.
"She goes, '(I'll) throw it like a softball,'" Evans said. "She goes up and just throws it, and it's nothing but net."
Hours later – shooting the ball the conventional way – Ford hit all net again. Once again, it was for something out of the ordinary. Only this time, it was for history.
With 12:27 to go in Elon's 57-43 win over UNCG Monday night, Ford swished a 3-pointer that didn't just give the Phoenix a 10-point lead. It gave the Southern Conference's shortest player a share of an Elon record. It was the 234th career triple for the 5-foot-3 Ford, tying Loretta Lawson's 2001 mark for the most in the 40-year history of the program.
When asked about it after the game, Ford shoved the topic aside, electing to praise her roommate – or asking if she had praised herself – instead.
"Did she tell you she beat me in H.O.R.S.E yesterday yet?" Ford, who had nine points, asked.
"No I didn't actually. Thank you for reminding me," Evans said, smiling.
It was an earlier 3-pointer from Ford that set the Phoenix on its winning course against the Spartans. After Elon (10-9, 6-4 SoCon) had the lead trimmed to one, she nailed a deep ball that kick-started a 17-3 run and eliminated any upset visions UNCG (3-15, 2-8) might have entertained.
"We got organized in our press offense," Elon coach Charlotte Smith said. "We just got organized and started to break it and get into our offense."
After starting SoCon play 2-4, the Phoenix has won four consecutive conference games. It's a change of pace for a team that was once sitting near the bottom of the standings.
"There's always things that you can work on," Evans said. "But I feel pretty good that we're going in the right direction."
Defensively, the Phoenix's in your face pressure prevented the Spartans from having any success at finding the basket. UNCG shot just 24.1 percent in the second half, just 17-66 (25.8 percent) for the game.
"We knew the personnel, we knew the game plan," Evans said. "We had a game plan. I just think we executed it pretty well."
Evans continued a strong couple of games on the glass. After pulling down 15 boards against Western Carolina University on Jan. 18, she recorded her second consecutive double-double with a 12-point, 12-rebound effort against the Spartans.
"Kelsey Evans has taken it upon her shoulders to lead this team, rebounding wise. ... I've got to credit her to our rebounding effort," Smith said.
Smith was faced with a familiar foe on the opposite bench. Wendy Palmer, like Smith a first-year head coach, played against Smith in high school, in college and in the WNBA. Despite the familiarity, not much was said between the two in the moments preceding and following the matchup.
"We just exchanged greetings," Smith said. "That was pretty much the extent of it."
The Phoenix was able to take a 29-22 lead into the locker room at halftime thanks in part to a Kelsey Harris put-back of an Aiesha Harper airball. After Harper's shot fell short, Harris jumped, caught the ball and heaved it toward the basket before landing. Her prayer was answered as it banked in off the backboard as time expired.
Harper scored 12 points, while Harris put up 11 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the Phoenix.
UNCG's Breonna Patterson paced all scorers with 14 points.