ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Senior Urysla Cotton had a double-double performance with a team high 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Elon women’s basketball team posted a 73-68 win over UNC Asheville to improve to 5-6 on the season. The win was Elon’s eighth straight over the Bulldogs, who fell to 3-7 overall.
Tiffany Davis was one of four Elon scorers in double figures with 13 points after going 3-of-4 from downtown and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line. The senior finished three assists and two steals. Kallie Hovatter added 12 points from the bench and dished five assists. Courtney Medley was the final Phoenix player in double figures with 11 points. Medley finished with a game-high six assists and grabbed five rebounds.
Four Phoenix players recorded buckets as Elon opened up to an 11-3 lead and would not trail for the remainder of the game. UNC Asheville chipped away at the score and came within five, 17-12, on a three by Grace Blaylock. The Phoenix connected on 3-of-5 from behind the arc as it went on a 18-7 run that gave it a 15-point lead at 35-20 with just over five minutes remaining in the half. UNC Asheville cut the lead to six on a layup by Kelli Riles, but Hovatter hit a layup with 53 seconds on the clock that sent Elon into the half with a 45-34 lead.
Cotton connected on two jumpers during a 6-2 streak that started the second half and put Elon up 51-36. A bucket by Lei Lei Hairston gave Elon its largest lead of the day at 18, 59-41, with 12 minutes left in the game.
Trailing 63-50, UNCA’s Chioma Okoli drained a pair of free throws and sparked an 14-5 run the spanned five minutes and cut the Phoenix lead to three at 68-65. A three by Kendall Shepard made it a two-point game at 70-68 with 36 seconds left. Elon went 3-of-4 from the charity stripe in final 30 seconds to seal the win 73-68.
Elon eclipsed the 70-point mark for the third time in four games and improved to 5-0 when it scores at least 70 points. Elon shot 42.2 percent from the field finished with 42 points in the paint.
“Kallie was a spark off of the bench for us today,” head coach Karen Barefoot said. “With Tiara out with the flu and some of our scorers having an off night, it was nice to see the rest of the team step up and make shots when we needed them.”
The Phoenix will break for the holidays before returning to the court on December 29 against Coastal Carolina. The game, Elon’s second in a row against a member of the Big South, is at 5 p.m.
