Box Score
Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. – Behind a game-high 24 points from Ali Ford, the Elon University women’s basketball team captured its first road win of the season on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 5, as the Phoenix registered a 69-61 victory over the Morgan State Lady Bears inside Hill Field House.

Elon, behind a strong showing of fan support on the road, improves to 5-3 on the year with the win, while Morgan State drops to 5-3 with the loss.

“I am proud of how we stayed together as a team today and showed a lot of poise against a very aggressive and determined Morgan State team,” said Elon head coach Karen Barefoot. “Overall, we demonstrated a lot of character and shot the ball extremely well today.”

Ford scored 20+ points for the fourth time this season, shooting 8-for-12 from the field, including a 6-of-9 mark from beyond the arc. Ford also dished out four assists and tallied four steals in the win.

In her homecoming back to Baltimore, Julie Taylor, a Columbia, Md. native, had a stellar game for the Phoenix, scoring a season-high13 points off the bench on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, including a 3-for-6 performance from three point land.

“Julie hit several key shots for us and really provided us with a spark when we needed it,” Barefoot said.  

Kelsey Evans just missed recording her fourth double-double of the season, as she grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go along with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.

Lei Lei Hairston was the fourth Phoenix player to score in double figures, going for 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds and four assists.

Elon recorded its second highest field goal percentage of the season in the victory, shooting 51 percent (26-of-51) from the field, including a scolding 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Phoenix won the battle of the boards over the Lady Bears, 43-26, while out-blocking Morgan State, 4-2.  Lisa Archie had a game-high two blocks off the bench for Elon, putting her at 14 on the year.

Ahead by as many as 13 points in the first half, Elon went into the locker room with a 32-24 advantage, as Ford led all players with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, including a 4-of-5 clip from beyond the arc. Evans was the only other scorer in double figures at the half, as the Raleigh, N.C. native tallied 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, while grabbing a game-high six boards.

The Phoenix held the Lady Bears to 28.6 percent shooting from the field in the opening frame, including a 15.4 percent (2-of-13) mark from beyond the arc. Elon shot 42.9 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, sinking 6-of-11 from three-point land (54.5 percent).

Ford continued to have the hot hand to start the second half, sinking a pair of threes to help lead a 17-9 run that led to a 49-33 Elon lead with under 16 minutes to play in the second half.

Elon would go up by as many as 16 points in the second half, as coast-to-coast layup by Taylor with 11:26 to play gave the Phoenix a 56-40 advantage.

The Lady Bears managed to pull within 10 points with 7:15 remaining in the game after Erin Hawkins connected from long distance in the corner to make it a 58-48 game. MSU came within single digits of the Phoenix for the first time since the early stages of the game with under seven minutes to play to make it a 60-51 game.

The Lady Bears forced an Elon timeout with 5:00 remaining in the game after southpaw MyQueisha Bratton hit a three pointer and limited the Phoenix’s lead to 61-54. Bratton led Morgan State with a team-high 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

But Taylor helped extend Elon’s lead to 11 points with less than four minutes to play, as her three-ball from the top of the key gave the Phoenix a 65-54 advantage.

Morgan State managed to pull within seven points down the stretch, but a strong defensive effort from the Phoenix kept the Lady Bears at arm’s length to secure the win.

Elon returns to the friendly confines of Alumni Gym on Saturday, Dec. 18, for its White Out game against Western Carolina at 2 p.m. Elon fans will receive a free T-shirt at the door for the team’s first Southern Conference home game of the season versus the Catamounts.