ELON, N.C. – Elon University women's basketball head coach Charlotte Smith recorded her 100th-career victory Sunday afternoon as Elon defeated Drexel 75-65 inside Alumni Gym to extend the program's winning streak to nine games in a row.
 
"I'm really pleased with the way the team is playing right now," Smith said. "We're playing with a lot of confidence and that makes all the difference in the world. But we're also playing together and understanding the defensive philosophy and the things we're trying to accomplish on defense. Offensively, we really understand and our zone offense and doing a very good job executing. I'm just really proud of this team and the effort we put forth here today."
 
Shay Burnett fell one rebound and one assist shy of the first triple-double in program history with 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. She was one of four players to score in double figures with Lauren Brown leading the Phoenix at 19 points, Jenifer Rhodes at 13 points and Maddie McCallie at 11 thanks to a 4-for-4 performance from the field with three triples.
 
With her 17 points, Brown is now 14 points away from joining the 1,000-point club. She is one of three active players with at least 900 points. Burnett has now scored 918 points in her Elon career and Rhodes has notched 917. Elon's last player to hit 1,000-career points was Kelsey Harris in 2014.
 
Drexel's Jessica Pellechio led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Sarah Curran, who missed large portions of the first half in foul trouble, finished with 15 points. No other Drexel player finished with more than seven points with Pellechio and Curran combining for 60 percent of Drexel's scoring on the afternoon.
 
The Phoenix (13-4, 5-0 CAA) polished off the season sweep of Drexel (12-4, 3-2 CAA) in front of 1,054 fans. The figure marks the third-most spectators in attendance for a home game in program history, falling just short of the 1,123 fans in attendance for Elon's March 2, 2013, win over Davidson and the Feb. 19, 2011, matchup against Samford.
 
The Rundown
Drexel jumped out to an early 8-1 lead in hitting three of its first five shots. With the Dragons leading 10-5, Elon went on a 13-2 run over 3:17 of game action late in the opening quarter to erase the deficit and lead by six with 1:29 to go.
 
Spanning the final minute of the first quarter and leaking into the second, Drexel put together a 5-0 run to erase the deficit and pull within one at 18-17 just a minute into the frame. The two teams went back and forth with neither side leading by more than four points until the final two seconds when Elon put together three quick points on free throws. With two seconds left, Rhodes was hacked going up for a layup and she hit 1-of-2 free throws. With the second one off, Lenaira Ruffin collected the rebound and was also fouled with one second to go. She hit both shots from the stripe as Elon took a 36-31 lead into halftime.
 
Out of the break, Drexel responded by hitting three three-pointers to go on a 9-2 run in the first 2:07 of the second half to erase Elon's lead and go up 40-38, prompting an Elon timeout. On the other side of the stoppage, the two teams went back and forth late into the quarter at 49-all. After a Pellechio jumper with 3:07 to go, Brown hit a layup to key an 11-2 run over the final 2:47 of the quarter to lead by nine after three at 60-51.
 
In the fourth, Drexel tried to chip away at the Elon lead and came within six after Curran hit a three-pointer, but the Dragons couldn't cut deeper into the lead with Essence Baucom and Brown hitting back-to-back jumpers to take the wind out of Drexel's sails in going back up by 10 with 5:08 to play.
 
Notes
- Though Burnett came close Sunday, Elon has never had a player record a triple-double in program history.
- The Phoenix dominated Drexel in the paint, outscoring the Dragons 32-12 down low and outrebounded Drexel 42-25.
- Prior to the game, Smith was honored for her work as an assistant coach over summer with USA Basketball's U18 National Team, which won the gold medal at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Chile.
- Elon's 75 points marks the most Drexel has allowed in five CAA games this season. It's the most points overall the Dragons have allowed since Dec. 27 against George Mason and snapped a six-game streak of allowing less than 48 points.
- Elon's 75 points also marks the second-most points Drexel has allowed all season, topped only by the 78 Bucknell scored when it defeated Drexel 78-66 in Lewisburg, Pa., back on Nov. 27.
-Drexel shot 40.4 percent in the game, snapping Elon's eight-game streak of teams shooting below 40 percent.
 
Hitting the Century Mark
Coach Smith on her milestone: "You don't get to 100 wins by yourself. I have an amazing staff – a loyal staff – who grinds it out to help me. But you also have to have players to get wins and I'm thankful for the talent we've had in this program the six years I've been here and thankful for this senior class. When they came in, I sat them down as freshmen and told them they're a special class – that they could be the ones to turn this program and they've done just that."
 
Brown on Coach Smith's milestone: "It's so exciting just to know that we have been a part of that. Obviously 100 is a milestone, but we know there is so much more to come for Coach Smith so being able to celebrate and be a part of that is a great feeling."
 
Up Next
Elon welcomes three-time defending CAA champion and preseason conference favorite James Madison to Alumni Gym on Friday, Jan. 20. Opening tip between Elon and JMU is set for 7 p.m. The Dukes lead the all-time series 5-0, but both games last season were tight with the first game in Elon going to overtime and the second in Harrisonburg, Va., seeing Elon lose by just one point, 73-72.