ELON, N.C. –
Freshman Ali Ford led all scorers with 23 points on 7-17 shooting, including
four buckets from behind arc, while fellow newcomer Kelsey Evans began her career
with a double-double as the Elon women’s basketball team opened the season with
an 86-66 win over Youngstown State in the Phoenix Classic Presented by Comfort
Inn. Evans grabbed 10 rebounds and scored 13 points for the Phoenix.
“I liked how our kids competed hard and stayed aggressive
throughout the game,” head coach Karen Barefoot said. “We turned it up the
second half and shot lights out.”
Evans recorded two assists and two blocked shots in her
debut, while Ford led the team with three steals and eight assists. Lei Lei
Hairston and Kallie Hovatter had solid debuts with 12 and 11 tallies,
respectively. Hairston excelled on the defensive end of the floor with two
blocks and a steal. Senior Urysla Cotton pulled down seven boards, tallied six
points and added a block.
After falling behind 11-6, the Phoenix mounted an 8-0 run
that put Elon up by three at the 13:20 mark. A jumper by Youngstown State’s
Rachael Manuel allowed the Penguins a four-point lead at 23-19. The Penguins
maintained their lead until a basket by Courtney Medley and a pair of
three-pointers by Ford put Elon up by seven with just over five minutes
remaining in the first half. Tiara Gause gave the Phoenix its largest lead of
the half at nine points on a jumper in the paint. After a YSU basket, Evans hit
a jumper with 11 seconds on the clock to give Elon a 39-32 halftime lead.
Evans and Tiffany Davis combined for three free throws to
start the second half and gave Elon its first double-digit lead of the contest
at 42-32. A basket by Bojana Dimitrov cut the Phoenix lead to five at 45-40,
but Hovatter turned a three-point play on a layup and free throw at the 15:49
mark that allowed Elon to extend its lead to eight points.
Elon went on a 14-3 run that gave it a 17-point lead at
62-45. With less than four minutes remaining in the game, Aiesha Harper made a
layup a 19-point advantage at 78-59. Youngstown State scored five straight
tallies to bring the game to within 14 before a jumper by Hovatter sparked an
8-0 Phoenix run. Cotton recorded the final Phoenix points and gave Elon its
largest lead of the night at 22 points with under a minute to play.
Elon scored 46 points in the paint and added 38 points from
the bench in the contest. The Phoenix shot 58.9 percent from the field as a
team.
In the first game of the tournament, Navy handed High Point
a 70-67 overtime loss. Elon will resume play tomorrow evening at 9 p.m., in the
final game of the Phoenix Classic Presented by Comfort Inn. Youngstown State
will take on High Point in the 7:00 game. Live stats will be available for each
game at www.elonphoenix.com.
- ELON -