Box Score
Box Score

ELON, N.C. – Behind five players in double figures, including a double-double from Kelsey Evans, the Elon University women’s basketball team opened the 2010-11 season in style on Friday night, Nov. 12, claiming a 91-77 victory over the Fordham Rams.

Evans scored 13 points and tied a career-high with 13 boards, marking her fifth-career double-double and her fourth in Elon's last five games. Evans registered a double-double in last year's season opener versus Youngstown State with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Ali Ford poured in a game-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, including four three pointers. Ford has scored 20 or more points 13 times in her career.

Junior guard Tiara Gause also chipped in 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, while sophomore Lei Lei Hairston and junior Shon Redmond scored 12 and 10, respectively.

“Fordham was a very physical team from a great conference in the Atlantic 10 and I am extremely proud of the way our team battled all night to come away with the win,” said Elon head women’s basketball coach Karen Barefoot. “Our team showed a lot of character late in the game after Fordham made a run, but we fought hard to come away with the victory over a quality opponent.”

The Phoenix (1-0) shot 55 percent from the field in the victory, including a 44 percent clip from beyond the arc. Ford attempted all of Elon’s three pointers on the night, going 4-of-9 in the win.

Defensively, Elon held Fordham (0-1) to 32 percent shooting from the field and forced the Rams into 31 turnovers.

Elon saw its early eight point lead evaporate with just under 12 minutes left in the opening frame, as a Phoenix turnover at mid-court paved the way for a Fordham fast-break layup to make it a 17-17 game with 11:18 remaining.

But the Phoenix stormed back with a 15-4 run over the next six minutes to claim a 32-21 lead after a pair of Erica Keto makes from the charity stripe.

Elon forced a Rams timeout with 5:19 remaining in the first half after Ford connected with her second three pointer of the game to extend the Phoenix lead to 14 points (35-21).

Ford led all scorers with 15 points at intermission, as Elon held a 46-36 advantage after Fordham hit a desperation three as time expired in the first half. Elon shot 61 percent (17-of-28) from the field in the opening frame, including a 75 percent clip from beyond the arc.

Elon claimed its largest lead of the game with 13:55 remaining in the second half, as Kelsey Harris ripped the ball from Fordham’s Abigail Corning and took it to the basket for an easy layup to give the Phoenix a 63-43 advantage.  

The Rams managed to cut Elon’s lead to 12 points with 9:34 remaining after a Kristina Bell three pointer limited the Phoenix to a 68-56 advantage. Fordham trimmed it to nine with 7:36 remaining after a Becky Peters three in the corner made it a 72-63 game. Bell led the Rams with 22 points in the loss.

But the Rams would pull no closer, as Elon would keep Fordham at arm’s length down the stretch to secure its first victory of the season.

Elon wraps up the Phoenix Classic on Sunday, Nov. 14, with a 1 p.m. contest versus Troy.