Box Score
Box Score

ELON, N.C. – Despite overcoming a 15-point deficit to take the lead late in the second half, the Elon University women’s basketball team could not stave off the hot shooting from the UNC Greensboro Spartans down the stretch on Thursday night, Feb. 10, as the Phoenix fell, 71-66, in a key Southern Conference matchup.

In a game that saw 12 ties, the Phoenix found itself knotted at 64-all after an Ali Ford three from the top of the key erupted the Elon faithful in attendance with 1:23 remaining in the game. But that would be the final tie of the game, as UNCG’s Breonna Patterson dialed up a three-pointer of her own on the ensuing possession with less than a minute remaining to put the Spartans ahead, 67-64.

A pair of Aiesha Harper makes from the charity stripe pulled Elon within a point, 67-66, with 46 seconds remaining, but that was as close as the Phoenix would come after a Monique Floyd jumper with 27 seconds left and a Lei Lei Hairston missed three-ball sealed Elon’s fate in the waning moments.

Elon drops to 15-9 overall (9-6 SoCon) with the setback, while UNCG evens its record to 12-12 (9-7 SoCon) with the victory. Elon’s three-game skid is its longest of the season.

“We know [UNC Greensboro] is a good team with good shooters, but I am proud of the way we fought back tonight,” said Elon head coach Karen Barefoot. “Aiesha Harper stepped in at the point in the absence of Shon Redmond and did a good job and she’s going to be someone we rely on heavily down the final stretch of our season.

We did a much better job of executing our offense in the second half and getting key stops on defense. But this will make us hungrier. We have one more day of practice and we’ll be ready to go on Saturday.”

Elon put four players in double figures in the loss, as Ford recorded her eighth game this season with 20 or more points. Ford finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, including a 4-of-8 clip from beyond the arc. Ford eclipsed 900 career points in the setback, as her 20 points put her at 906 for her career in only her second season.  

Rookie Kelsey Harris recorded a career-high 13 points for Elon on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, while Harper and Kelsey Evans pitched in 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Hairston grabbed a team-high 10 boards for the Phoenix, but the Spartans dominated the glass on the night, 43-38, with a total of 20 offensive rebounds.

UNCG also put four players in double digits, as Floyd led the way with a team-best 15 points. Teammate Janae’ Stevenson grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds for the Spartans.

The Spartans took a 10-point lead and forced an Elon timeout with 13:55 to play after a Dayshaun Richbow jumper from the free throw line put the Phoenix behind, 18-8.

The Spartans would go up by as many as 15 points in the opening frame, but the Phoenix limited the damage to eight points at intermission.

UNCG dominated the glass in the first half, grabbing 28 boards to Elon’s 19, including 13 on the offensive end. The Spartan bench registered 12 points in the first 20 minutes, while the Phoenix reserves recorded three points, all from rookie Candice Silas. Silas tied a career-high with eight rebounds in the loss.  

Harris gave the Phoenix its first lead of the game with 14:18 to play in the second half after driving to the basket and completing an old-fashioned three-point play to make it a 41-39 game and put the finishing touches on a 12-0 Elon run.

After Brey Dorsett’s rainbow three from the right wing hit nothing but net to give UNCG a three-point advantage with 4:48 to play, Harper answered back to tie it after completing another Phoenix old-fashioned three-point play to knot it 61-all with 4:14 remaining.

Following a three-pointer by UNCG’s Patterson to put Elon down three, Harper limited the Spartans to a one-point lead with under a minute to play after knocking down a pair of free throws to make it a 67-66 game.

UNCG answered with a Floyd jumper on the following possession to go ahead, 69-66, giving the Phoenix the ball with 21.8 seconds left after Barefoot called for a timeout.

But the Phoenix could not convert following the short recess, as a Hairston three-ball could not find the bottom of the net, and the Spartans managed to escape Alumni Gym with the win.

Elon returns to action on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 12, when it hosts the Wofford Terriers at 2 p.m. inside Alumni Gym.