After a brutal loss marred by turnovers to William & Mary on Jan. 31, the Elon University women’s basketball team fell 62-47 to Monmouth University.
Elon got off to a quick start, jumping to a 7-1 lead early on. Senior Iycez Adams and redshirt freshman Ava Leroux got the game’s first few points and utilized the paint to get Elon’s offense going. Points were evenly spread across the first half but Adams led the team with 4 points and 5 rebounds at halftime. After missing the first 11 shots in the final quarter of their game on Jan. 31, the team got off to a hot start from the field.
Elon’s defense attacked the ball on defense and made it hard for Monmouth to get shots off by utilizing a communication-driven defense that favored double teaming to overwhelm the Monmouth player with the ball. Because of this, Elon had almost double the number of shot attempts Monmouth had at the end of the first quarter.
Freshman Jayda Angel dribbles the ball at the top of the court on Feb. 2.
Elon’s defense continued to get aggressive as it forced a three and a half minute scoring drought. However, Monmouth closed the gap to make it a 2-point game after Elon turned the ball over five times in three minutes and failed to score in that time, too. Monmouth got four turnovers in a two minute span soon after. It was a sloppy first quarter that saw 17 combined turnovers between the two teams.
As the second quarter began, the turnovers didn’t go away. Elon intercepted Monmouth passes numerous times in the opening minutes. Elon’s ability to shoot well went away as they went on a sequence where they missed 10 of their last 11 shots. The Phoenix only made four shots in the second quarter. Head coach Charlotte Smith tried to mix things up to create a spark on offense and changed the lineup. She put in freshman Ashlee Shaw, junior Aly Wadkovsky and freshman Samira Khalil — who have all played 10 or less games this season.
Despite the poor shooting, Elon went into the half up by two as a result of the efforts of their stout defense. Having held Monmouth to 20 points in the first half and forced 16 turnovers, the defense kept the Phoenix in the game and held onto the lead.
Monmouth came out of the half firing on all cylinders, making their first seven shots and scoring 11 straight points off a flurry of mid-range jumpers and a 3-pointer. Adams ended the 11-0 run with a basket but the damage was done. What was a 2-point Phoenix lead at halftime had become a 12-point lead by Monmouth.
Adams carried Elon’s offensive load, finishing the game with 10 points and 8 rebounds. The Phoenix continued to struggle from the field in the second half and it was hard for the team to get going with many of their typical contributors not being able to score. Freshman Jayda Angel, who has led the team in scoring seven times, was 2-10 at the end of the third quarter. Redshirt sophomore Raven Preston was 1-6, and sophomore Maraja Pass was 1-7. Preston and Angel — who are the team’s top two scorers this season — couldn’t get their shots to fall, and the team’s usual reliance on them to score was forced to be directed elsewhere.
Elon University's women's basketball team gather for a huddle before starting the second half of their game against Monmouth Feb. 2.
Monmouth couldn’t seem to miss in the third quarter and finished the period with an 81.8% field goal percentage, far above Elon’s meager 15%.
The Phoenix tried to mount a comeback in the final quarter as they began to shoot better thanks to Preston and Angel. The pair of dynamic scorers woke up in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 combined points in the final period. But Elon’s defense couldn’t get enough stops down the stretch to make the comeback worthwhile.
Smith was not available for comment after the game.
Despite recently jumping to their best CAA start since 2016, Elon has dropped three straight to fall to 11-9. They will look to get a bounce-back win against Towson on Feb. 9.