Box Score
Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Elon University women’s basketball team found the hot hand of Kelsey Evans early and often on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 29, at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, as the Raleigh, N.C. native’s career day lifted the Phoenix to a 76-49 victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts.

Evans poured in a career-best 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 shooting from the free throw line to help lead the Phoenix (15-6, 9-3) attack. Evans nearly tied her career-high mark in rebounds, as she dominated the glass with a game-high 15 boards.

“We didn’t do the little things we needed to do to win last time we played [Western Carolina] and today was a total team effort,” Evans said. “It’s our goal every game to create offense through defense and dominate in the paint and we did that today.

My teammates gave me great looks all game and we were committed to executing our offense for all 40 minutes today.”

The 27-point victory for Elon is the team’s largest over a Southern Conference opponent since joining the league in 2003-04. The last time Elon topped a league opponent by 27 or more points was in 2002 when the Phoenix recorded a 27-point victory over UNC Asheville when the team was a member of the Big South.

Ali Ford scored 17 points in the win on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the free throw line, while Julie Taylor was the third Phoenix player in double figures with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Elon shot 52.6 percent from the field and 86.7 percent from the free throw line in the win, while limiting the Catamounts to 20.4 percent clip from the field, including a 1-of-12 mark from beyond the arc. The Phoenix held the Catamounts to just 11 field goals in the win, which tied a season low mark for Western Carolina.

“We committed ourselves on defense for the entire game today and I am extremely proud of the way we battled against a good Western Carolina team,” said Elon head coach Karen Barefoot. “Our rhythm on offense was excellent today and we executed the game plan perfectly on both ends of the court. Kelsey [Evans] had a monster game for us and really stepped up today.

All in all, today was a total team effort on both ends and our team is continuing to get better and better.”

Lei Lei Hairston gave the Phoenix an 11-point advantage with 10:28 to play in the first half after Aiesha Harper found her under the basket for a layup, giving Elon a 20-9 lead.

Elon carried all the momentum and a 38-19 lead into the locker room at intermission behind a game-high 18 points from Evans on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and a 6-for-6 performance at the free throw line.

The Elon defense held the Catamounts to a 13.8 percent clip from the field in the opening frame, forcing WCU into 14 turnovers and a 0-of-8 mark from beyond the arc.

Evans scored her career-high 22nd point with 10:13 to play in the second half after her left-handed hook shot in the lane put the Phoenix up, 54-32.

The Elon offense kept its foot on the gas in the second half, going up by as many as 32 points on Western Carolina to secure the victory and remain in second place in the league standings.

Elon has won nine of its last 10 games in conference play, while the team’s 15 victories mark the most by the Phoenix since the 2003-04 season.

Elon is back in action on Monday night, Jan. 31, for its second of three straight road games when the Phoenix takes on Davidson. Tip is set for 7 p.m. inside John M. Belk Arena.