Coming off of a disappointing, fruitless two-game road swing, the Elon University women’s basketball team earned a hard-fought win on the road at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro on Saturday afternoon, 70-57.
“This win definitely should give us a lot of confidence because UNCG is a great team,” Elon head coach Charlotte Smith said after the game. “It’s a boost of confidence for us to get a win and hopefully keep building on the wins.”
Although this game was away from Alumni Gym - but only 30 minutes away - the Phoenix showed some of the mojo seen at home. Elon raced out to a 7-0 lead behind five points from sophomore guard Zora Stephenson. What ensued was one of the most bizarre sequences of the season. The UNCG Spartans scored eight straight points to snag an 8-7 lead. The Maroon and Gold promptly rolled off 14 straight for a 21-8 lead with 9:32 to play in the first half.
One of the keys to the run was sophomore center Shannen Cochraham, who scored the final four points of the run. Cochraham was part of a rotation of the bigs for Elon all afternoon along with senior Kelsey Evans and freshman Autumn Carter. “[The presence of the bigs] helps us to get a rotation going,” Smith said. "Shannen did a tremendous job, she was 4-6 from the floor…I thought she did a real good job of finishing today.”
Another key to the run was senior guard Shon Redmond, who added eight points on the day and played aggressive defense. “I knew I had to come out and bring what I had...and not hold back so my team could feed off my energy,” Redmond said.
Not to be outdone, the host Spartans scored 14 of their own and the score was 22-21 Spartans by the 6:23 mark of the first half. The game became lethargic from there, and UNCG headed to the locker room with a 26-25 halftime lead, with Elon shooting only 32 percent.
Elon came out of the gates in the second half on a hot streak, building a lead that reached 15 points and was a stark contrast to the cold spells of the first half. “We [finished] easy shots,” Smith remarked. “We talked at halftime about focusing to finish because we were missing a lot of easy shots. I thought we did a good job of getting the ball inside and finishing.”
Redmond commented on the success of the transition game in Elon’s second half dominance. “We emphasize pressure in practice. We had to make them uncomfortable and feed off their turnovers,” she said.
Elon saw senior guard Ali Ford knock down a pair of three-point shots, regaining the form she had earlier in the season. In addition, Ford executed a fancy behind-the-back pass to freshman guard Jessica Farmer that resulted in an open jumper with 12:57 to play.
UNCG made the game as close as seven late in the contest, but Elon used free throws to pull away to the final margin of 70-57.
Ford led Elon with fifteen points, and Stephenson followed with twelve. Farmer added ten, Cochraham with nine, Redmond and junior guard Kelsey Harris scored eight, Evans scored six and Carter two points.
With the win, Elon improved to 13-11 overall and 10-5 in Southern Conference play. The Phoenix’s next game is Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7:00 p.m. inside Alumni Gym against the Wofford College Terriers.