LYNCHBURG, VA — Misty Brockman netted 18 points as third-seeded High Point eliminated second-seeded Elon 80-66 in the second semfinal contest of the 2003 Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Saturday night at the Vines Center on the Liberty campus.
The Panthers (18-11) advance to Sunday’s title game against top-seeded and six-time defending champion Liberty (25-3), which won 78-68 over fifth-seeded Coastal Carolina earlier Saturday evening. The victory provided revenge for High Point, which suffered a regular-season series sweep to the Phoenix (19-10), including a 68-41 home loss last Saturday.
Brockman led the Panthers with 18 points and nine rebounds while teammate Gina Rosser tossed in 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the floor. Narelle Henry chipped in 14 points and Cebronica Scott added 13 points and eight rebounds. The nation's 15th-ranked team in steals, High Point swiped another 12 from the Phoenix.
Elon drew even with the Panthers at 55-55 with 9:45 to play on a tip-in by Anestha Blakeney. Henry followed that with a three-pointer from the top of the key at the 9:36 mark to give High Point a lead it would never relinquish.
Jayme Chikos led the Phoenix with a solid all-around effort of 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists before fouling out with 59.4 seconds left. The Panthers were able to shut down Elon's leading scorer Holly Andrews, who finished with seven points on 2-for-11 shooting.
Blakeney finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Neither team shot 40 percent for the game, but High Point finished at 75 percent from the line and made 11 more free throws than the Phoenix at 24-13.
Elon finishes the 2002-03 campaign just one victory shy of its first 20-win season at the NCAA Division I level and fifth overall. The senior class of Chikos and Blakeney helped the Phoenix to a 64-52 record (.552) during the program's first four official NCAA-I campaigns.
Chikos and Blakeney led Elon to a 35-21 four-year ledger (.625) in league play to go with three Big South regular-season runner-up finishes and one conference tournament runner-up finish. Next year's Elon senior class will sport six players. The Phoenix will return 11 of 13 letterwinners overall, including three starters next season.
Game Box Score
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