Box Score
Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Rookies Kelsey Harris and Candice Silas provided the spark the Elon University women’s basketball team needed on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 8, at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala., as the duo lifted the Phoenix to a 47-42 victory over the Samford Bulldogs.

Elon improves to 8-5 and 3-2 in the Southern Conference with the win. Samford drops to 11-4 (4-2 SoCon) with the loss.

“Our freshmen really stepped up big for us today and demonstrated a lot of poise that helped us come out on top over a talented Samford team,” said Elon head coach Karen Barefoot. “Candice and Kelsey came in and gave us quality minutes and the momentum we needed to win the game. All in all, we played as one today and it was a great team effort.”

Harris led the Elon bench with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field in 24 minutes, while Silas finished with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting to go along with five rebounds and one steal.

The Phoenix played stellar defense in the victory, forcing 14 Samford turnovers and limiting the Bulldogs to 33.3 percent shooting from the field, including a 5-of-29 (17.2 percent) clip from beyond the arc. Samford went into today’s game ranked third in the nation in three-point field goals per game (8.6).

"Today was an all-around team effort," said Elon senior guard Julie Taylor. "We worked together and communicated with one another the whole game and came together to pull out a big win."

Ali Ford led all scorers in the win, tallying a game-high 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field. Ford has scored in double figures in 31 of Elon's last 32 games, including all 13 contests this season. Samford was the last team to hold the Morganton, N.C. native below 10 points.

Shon Redmond just missed recording her first career double-double, scoring nine points 4-of-8 shooting to go along with nine boards, while sophomore Kelsey Evans registered a game-high four blocked shots.

Ford helped the Phoenix get off to a hot start on offense, scoring 10 of Elon’s first 14 points to help her team to an early 12-10 lead with 11:07 remaining in the first half. Ford led all scorers with 12 points in the opening frame, helping the Phoenix to a 24-21 advantage over the Bulldogs.

Elon shot 36.7 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and scored 11 points off eight Samford turnovers. The Bulldogs dominated the glass, 22-14, but neither team managed to get to the free throw line in the first half. The two teams combined to shoot 21 three pointers, as Elon went 2-of-9 from long distance and Samford went 1-of-12.

After taking the ball to the basket for a layup with the shot clock winding down to give Elon a 28-25 lead with under 14 minutes remaining, Silas again came up big for the Phoenix, taking a charge on the baseline on defense to give Elon the ball back.  

Following Silas’ strong defensive effort, Harris netted back-to-back baskets to complete an 8-0 run and give Elon its largest lead of the game, 32-25, with 12:22 remaining, forcing Samford head coach Mike Morris to call a timeout.

Samford made it close with 45.3 seconds remaining on the clock after a missed three by Savannah Hill leaked out to Jazmine Martin under the basket for the easy layup, limiting Elon to a 46-42 lead.

But the Phoenix managed to hit key free throws in the waning moments to secure the win and improve to 3-2 in league play.

Elon now heads to Chattanooga, Tenn. for a Monday night game with the Lady Mocs. Tip is set for 3 p.m. inside McKenzie Arena.