ELON, N.C. -- The Western Carolina Lady Catamounts posted three players in double figures in the scoring column to defeat the Elon Phoenix by a 56-48 margin in Southern Conference women’s basketball action on Monday afternoon from Alumni Gym on Education Day With the Phoenix.
The tight game featured four ties in the first five minutes, with the last coming at the 15:07 mark when Western Carolina’s Chevon Keith nailed a jumper to even the score at 11. After both teams suffered a scoreless drought of 8:04, Western Carolina (4-16, 4-7 SoCon) pushed its lead to seven at 20-13 with 3:44 left in the half when Teyawna Hardy hit a jumper. A three-point bucket from Myra Donkin with five seconds remaining in the period drew Elon (9-11, 4-7) to within one at 22-21 at the break.
After WCU pushed its advantage to 26-21 early in the second stanza, Elon went on a 7-2 run to even the score at 28 when Tierra Bumbrey drained a jumper at the 14:40 mark. The score remained close and Elon grabbed its first lead of the second half when a Nikko King layup with 6:02 to play put the Phoenix ahead 46-44. The Lady Cats immediately answered and knotted the score at 46 when Keith hit a jumper.
From that point, Western Carolina went on a 12-2 run to end the game and provide the final margin.
Bumbrey finished the game with a season and game-high 16 points for Elon. Donkin added a career-best 13 markers off the bench for the Phoenix. Kitara McMoore, the league’s leading scorer at 15.1 points per game, was held to only four points, but grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
Western Carolina was paced by 14 points from Lauren Powell, including four threes. Hardy netted 11 points and Keith finished the afternoon with 10 markers. Keith finished one rebound shy of a double-double.
The Lady Cats outrebounded Elon by a 41-34 margin and also held edges in turnovers (14-15) and field goal percentage (39.6-34.5). The Phoenix tallied 11 assists to eight for WCU and swiped seven steals to six for the Lady Cats.
Up next for Elon will be a home date with Georgia Southern on Saturday, February 4 at 2:00 p.m. Western Carolina will host Davidson at 5:00 p.m. that same day.
-- ELON -- Game Box Score
