The Elon University women’s basketball team was on a hot streak, having won five straight Southern Conference contests. However, their conference record sat at 6-1 with the one glaring loss coming to the Cougars of College of Charleston. As luck would have it, the chance for winning the sixth in a row would come against those same Cougars.
This time around, the outcome was different as Elon picked up a 63-56 win against Charleston.
Elon got its first lead at 5-4 when senior guard Ali Ford hit a three-pointer with 17:45 to play in the first half, a lead it would never relinquish. The game bounced back and forth from there, and Elon held a 22-20 lead with 6:45 left in the first half. At that point, the Phoenix went on a 10-0 run to take the lead to 32-20.
In that stretch, Charleston missed four three-point shots, straying from their traditional style of offense, where nearly every play runs through senior center Latisha Harris.
“We didn’t want them to take that many [shots], but I’m just thankful that we were able to get rebounding opportunities off of the three point shots," said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. "We did a pretty good job of containing Latisha Harris, she’s an outstanding player.”
Senior forward Kelsey Evans, one of Elon’s leaders, had the job of guarding Harris on Sunday afternoon, and credited preparation with her success.
“We knew that she was their leading scorer and leading rebounder so we knew she was going to be a focus today, after watching film, we were able to contain her," she said.
The Phoenix used the success of their run to carry a 38-27 lead into the locker room, shooting 53.6 percent from the field in the first half of play.
The beginning of the second half, however, was a different story. The Cougars began the half on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 38-34. Smith responded by calling a timeout, and had an important message for her team.
“Energy. We came out really, really flat for the start of the second half, and I thought we just needed to focus defensively, because those are the things we can control - defense and rebounding," she said. "I thought we did an outstanding job in the first half of boxing out, so those were the things- defense, rebounding, and boxing out.”
Within a few minutes, the lead was back to 11, with Evans scoring six consecutive points. She was quick to credit her teammates and the aggressive Cougar defense with her success.
“[My teammates] did a really great job of finding me," the Raleigh, N.C., native said. "I got fouled a bunch and those were all on passes, so today we did a really good job of expecting the trap off the ball screen and moving the ball around."
Elon went on a cold spell following the mini-run, and Charleston made the game as close as two, 53-51, with just over six minutes remaining. A clutch Ford three-pointer later, Elon led 56-51 and was on its way to a win.
The Phoenix only shot 34.6 percent in the second half, but a 66.7 percent free throw percentage helped carry the team, especially late in the game.
Evans led the Phoenix with her 19 points, followed by Ford with 13. Sophomore center Shannen Cochraham added ten points, while junior guard Kelsey Harris had seven and sophomore guard Zora Stephenson scored six.
For the host Cougars, junior guard Alyssa Frye led the team with 16 points. Senior guard Megan Fischer added 12 and Harris scored ten.
Elon improved to 10-7, 7-1 SoCon with the win and Charleston dropped to 7-10, 3-5 in SoCon play.
Elon is off until Saturday, when the Phoenix travels to Davidson College for a 2 p.m. game.