As senior forward Kelsey Evans had a career night, the Elon University women’s basketball team picked up it’s first win of the season with a 74-58 win over the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams in the home opener of the 2012-2013 season.

Evans finished with 13 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and a career-high four assists. She also tied her career-high in blocked shots with five.

Though the Phoenix (1-1) came away with the victory, it wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t pretty by any means.

Down by two with 11:33 to go in the first half, the Rams (0-1) went on a 14-0 run over a five minute and three second span to pull ahead, 32-20. Elon head coach Charlotte Smith called a timeout to try and stop the bleeding, but it was unsuccessful, as VCU tacked on five more points out of the stoppage.

Elon broke out of the slump with a run of its own though with less than seven minutes to go in the half. Using solid defense, rebounding and fast break points, the Phoenix went on a 29-5 run that spanned from 6:30 left in the first half until 12:23 remaining in the second half.

“We were creating offense from our defense,” Smith said after the game. “We got some good looks and we did a good job of pushing the tempo and finding the open person within the offense.”

Though trailing for the entirety of the second half, the Rams kept the Phoenix within striking range until the end of the game when the Phoenix pulled away on converted intentional foul free throws.

Leading by a point at halftime, Smith challenged her players on the boards after the two teams each pulled down 21 rebounds in the first half.

“At halftime, I challenged each player,” Smith said. “I gave them a specific number that I wanted them to meet in terms of rebounds in the second half. (Senior guard) Ali (Ford) exceeded her number. She had five rebounds. That’s a great rebounding effort from a point guard.”

Another aspect of the game that Smith liked from her team was the stingy defense the Phoenix played.

“We forced them into 20 turnovers tonight,” Smith said. We were doing some very good things defensively.”

Ford finished leading the Phoenix with 21 points on the night. She extended her program record for most three pointers made to 267 after shooting three of seven from range.

In their first game of the season, freshman guard Jessica Pellechio led the Rams with 18 points on five of 16 from three-point range.

Next up for the Phoenix is the second game of a four-game home stand against the University of North Carolina at Wilmington on Sunday, Nov. 18.

The biggest thing that Smith said needs to change for the game with the Seahawks is the defensive communication. She cited the communication as being better in the second half of the win, but she said that needed to last the entirety of the game.

“That definitely can always get better,” Smith said.