ROANOKE, VA -- The second-seeded Elon Phoenix began play in the Big South Conference Tournament Wednesday night with a 67-53 thrashing of #7 Winthrop.
Elon, who trailed 29-26 at the half, used a 41 point second stanza to advance to the semi-finals for the second straight season. Elon (15-13) used a 24-10 run to open the second period that saw eight different Phoenix players scoring. Winthrop (8-20) never got closer than 10 points as Charlotta Wennefors hit a bucket at the 3:50 mark of the second to cut the lead to 54-44.
Loretta Lawson led the way for the Phoenix, scoring a game-high 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Tashina DeVeaux grabbed a team-high nine caroms, while Jayme Chikos tallied eight assists. DeVeaux also swatted three Eagle shots.
Kimberly Cairnes led Winthrop scorers with 13 points, while Wennefors (12 points) and Anne Hollensen (11 points) also hit double figures in scoring. Meridith Smith pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Phoenix held the advantage in turnovers (19-11) and scored 13 points off the Winthrop miscues. Elon also scored 28 points in the paint and 14 on the fast break. The Phoenix held the advantage in assists (14-8), steals (9-8), blocks (5-0) and shooting percentage (40.7-32.2). Winthrop did lead in the rebounding category, out-rebounding the Phoenix 43-37.
The win moves Elon into the semi-finals and a contest with #3 Charleston Southern at 2:30 on Friday at the Roanoke Civic Center.