CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Elon women’s basketball team picked up its second Southern Conference win with a 59-54 victory over Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, N.C. It was the first time in the last eight tries that the Phoenix has defeated the Catamounts. With the win, Elon improves to 6-9 on the season and 2-5 in SoCon action. Western Carolina, the defending SoCon Tournament champion, is now 3-12 and 2-4 in league play.
“This was a total team effort. I am really proud of the way that this team finished,” head coach Karen Barefoot said. “It was a great win for our seniors, who now have wins over Western Carolina and Chattanooga this season. I couldn’t be happier for Urysla [Cotton] and Tiffany [Davis], who really stepped up and led our team today.”
Senior Urysla Cotton earned her fourth double-double in five games with a team-best 15 points and 10 rebounds. Ali Ford finished in double figures for the 12th time this season with 12 points. Tiara Gause added 10 points while Kelsey Evans registered a season-best four blocks and contributed eight points.
Western Carolina’s Emily Clarke led all scorers with 20 points, followed by Caitlin Hollifield with 17. Hollifield also pulled down a team-best eight rebounds in the effort.
Clarke registered three buckets from downtown during an early 12-2 streak that put the Catamounts up 18-8. Trailing 22-11, the Phoenix defense held Western Carolina to just one point over the final eight minutes of the first half. During the 13-1 run, Gause scored six points, including two with 38 seconds on the clock that sent the Phoenix into the locker room holding a 24-23 lead. Elon shot 39.1 percent from the field in the first half, led by Gause with eight points and Evans with six tallies.
Western Carolina tied the game at 26 on a three-pointer by Clarke in the opening minute of the second half. Neither team led by more than four until the Phoenix opened up a six-point advantage on a long three by Ford that made it a 43-37 game at 12:06. A triple by Western’s Kendra Carroll cut the lead to 43-41 before a layup by Gause allowed the Phoenix to go ahead 45-41. The bucket was the last made-basket by the Phoenix in the game as Elon went on to score its last 14 points from the charity stripe. Ford led the charge, going 6-of-8 from the line, but Davis sealed the win, scoring Elon’s final four points with under a minute to play.
Elon won the rebounding battle 39-27 and outscored WCU’s bench 20-7. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Phoenix.
The Phoenix will travel to Greensboro, N.C., to take on UNC Greensboro on Wednesday, January 13 at 7 p.m., before returning to Alumni Gym for a five-game home stretch.
- ELON -
