Box Score
Box Score

ELON, N.C. – A three-point attempt from senior Julie Taylor that would have sent the game to overtime just missed as the buzzer sounded on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 19, and the Elon University women’s basketball team’s late rally fell short, as the Phoenix dropped an 83-80 heartbreaker to the Samford Bulldogs inside a packed house in Alumni Gym.

Down by as many as 14 points to the Bulldogs, the Phoenix (17-10, 11-7 Southern Conference) made it a two-point game with under 10 seconds to play after Aiesha Harper stole Samford’s inbound and hit a jumper in the paint to make it an 82-80 game with about seven seconds to play.

Following an Elon foul to Samford’s Ruth Ketcham, who missed the back-end of a one-and-one free throw attempt, but gave the Bulldogs a three-point edge, Ali Ford raced the ball up the court and dished it off to Taylor in the corner for the trey to send the game to overtime. But Taylor’s attempt fell just short, and the Bulldogs managed to escape Elon with a victory to improve to 21-7 overall and 14-5 in league play, securing the No. 2 seed in the 2011 SoCon Tournament.

With Georgia Southern’s loss to Davidson today, putting the Eagles at 8-10 in conference play, Elon has clinched a top-five seed in the tournament and a first-round bye, meaning the Phoenix will not play its first game until March 4 or 5 in Chattanooga.

For Elon, the loss is its first this season when scoring 70 or more points. The Phoenix also allowed an opposing player to score 30 or more points for the first time all season, as Samford’s Emily London poured in a game-high 33 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including a 6-for-7 clip from beyond the arc.

“We fought very hard today and managed to dig ourselves out of a deep hole against a very talented Samford team,” said Elon head coach Karen Barefoot. “A lot of players really stepped up and provided great energy for us when we needed it and we never gave up. It was an incredible atmosphere today and our fans really came out and supported a great cause with the Pink Zone event. But we’ll learn from this moving forward into our next game on Monday night against Chattanooga.”

Elon put four of its five starters in double figures, as Ford led the way with a team-high 21 points on just four field goal makes and a 12-of-13 clip from the charity stripe. Not far behind was Harper, who tallied a career-high 20 points for the Phoenix on 8-of-12 shooting.

Kelsey Evans recorded her seventh double-double of the season in the setback, as the league’s leading rebounder grabbed a game-high 11 boards to go along with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

Lei Lei Hairston was the fourth Elon player to score in double digits with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Hairston also recorded two blocked shots for the Phoenix.

Elon trailed by 12 points, 35-23, at halftime after the Bulldogs turned a total of 12 Phoenix turnovers in 14 points. But Elon turned the ball over only four times in the second session, while forcing Samford into eight miscues.

The Bulldogs went ahead by as many as 14 points in the first half after London connected from beyond the arc to put the Phoenix down, 29-15, with 4:40 remaining in the first frame.

Elon came back in the second half to limit Samford to a three-point lead after a Hairston steal and layup made it a 40-37 game with 16:24 to play in the second period.

The Bulldogs took a seven-point lead with less then 40 seconds remaining in the game, but Taylor made it a four-point game after her old-fashioned three-point play following a Hairston offensive board made it 82-78 with about 13 seconds to play.

But it would be for naught down the stretch, as Samford just narrowly escaped its second loss of the season to the Phoenix after Taylor’s three-ball that would have sent the game to overtime fell just short.

Elon plays its final home contest of the season on Monday night, Feb. 21, when the Chattanooga Lady Mocs come to Alumni Gym for Senior Night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will mark the final home contest for Taylor, Jess Luedtke and Gabby Oloye.