Box Score

ELON, N.C. – Sophomore Ali Ford led four Elon players in double figures as the Phoenix women’s basketball team defeated the visiting Chowan Hawks, 97-49, in Elon’s lone exhibition game of the 2010-11 season. Elon, playing in newly renovated Alumni Gym for the first time, used a 20-0 run midway through the first half to take control of the game and never looked back.

“We did a good job pressing tonight and I think that was the key,” commented Elon head women’s basketball coach Karen Barefoot. “I was really excited about how the team bought into the press and really did a good job of generating offense off of it tonight.”

Ford, the reigning Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, led all scorers with 23 points on 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. She added seven assists and eight steals to her totals. Junior Tiara Gause knocked down 8-of-13 from the field for 16 points. Julie Taylor and Erica Keto came off the bench to contribute 12 points apiece. Lei Lei Hairston pulled down a game-high nine rebounds as Elon outrebounded Chowan, 45-25. Hawk forward Talaya Lynch scored 11 points to lead Chowan.

With the Hawks holding a slight 8-6 advantage with three minutes gone by in the game, Elon came alive on offense, scoring on its next six trips down the floor to take an 18-11 lead. Chowan would score only two points over the next six minutes as the Phoenix press forced seven turnovers and Elon scored 20 unanswered points to go up, 38-13, with 8:18 to play in the first half. While the Hawks held Elon to only six points for the remainder of the half, the Elon defense was too much and the Phoenix held a 44-26 advantage after 20 minutes of action.

Chowan managed to trim the deficit to 14 points in the early minutes of the final period, but the Hawks would get no closer. The Phoenix outscored Chowan 53-23 in the second half, growing its lead to as many as 50 points in the final seconds.

Elon scored 56 points in the paint, shooting 60 percent from the field for the night. The Phoenix also generated 48 points off 30 Hawk turnovers. Elon limited Chowan to 32 percent shooting from the field.

The Phoenix will officially tip off the 2010-11 season when it hosts the Phoenix Classic beginning Friday, Nov. 12. Elon will take on Fordham at 4 p.m. that afternoon.