BOSTON – Elon University women's basketball shot a season-high 60 percent from the floor Sunday afternoon, Feb. 18, on the way to claiming a 65-46 victory over Northeastern inside Cabot Center.
 
The win is Elon's seventh in a row, which stands as the second-longest winning streak in the program's Division I era behind only last season's nine-game run. Now at 19-7 overall, the Phoenix stands at 11-4 in the CAA and has won four conference games away from Alumni Gym after dropping each of the first four. Northeastern's  record now stands at 13-13 overall and 8-7 in the CAA.
 
Elon's 60 percent on 27-of-45 is the third-best shooting percentage in a game as a Division I program the only two games better were the record 63.3 percent on 31-for-49 against Winston-Salem State on Dec. 13, 2007, and 60.8 at Campbell on Nov. 30, 2006, when Elon shot 31-of-51 from the floor.
 
THE RUNDOWN
Up 10 at the break, Elon used a 21-5 run to start the second half to blow the gates open and make it a 26-point game at 52-26 with 2:57 to go in the frame. The third quarter opened with Malaya Johnson jumpers sandwiching a Lexi Mercer three-pointer, and the big run continued with a 10-0 stretch in just over two minutes from 5:04 to go to 2:57 left with Mercer, Ra'Shika White, Saadia Munford and Jada Graves combining for five layups.
 
To open the fourth, a Northeastern layup cut Elon's lead to 54-35, but the Phoenix went on a 10-0 run to push the lead to a game-high 29 at 64-35 with 6:33 to play. Though Northeastern closed the game on an 11-1 run with a Graves free throw the only Phoenix point in the last six-plus minutes, the damage had been done and Elon came away with the 19-point victory.
 
Northeastern tallied the first bucket of the game 20 seconds in, but Elon's defense clamped down and held the Huskies off the board for the next 8:14 of game action while going on an 11-0 run. In the stretch, the Phoenix forced Northeastern into 11 consecutive misses before Northeastern converted two of its last three attempts of the quarter to cut what was once a nine-point deficit to four at 13-9 through 10 minutes.
 
After Northeastern's 7-2 run to close the first quarter, Elon answered nicely with an 8-0 run on 4-of-4 from the floor to open the second quarter with all eight points coming in the paint to go up by a half-high 12 points at 21-9 with 7:17 to go before half. Down the stretch, Northeastern brought the halftime margin to 10 with three-straight layups from Gabby Giacone, but Graves and Meme Garner both hit three-pointers and Shay Burnett and Munford each drained a free throw to keep the Phoenix up 31-21 at the break.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
Johnson's 20 points matched her season-high. The senior from Mount Airy, N.C., finished 10-of-12 from the floor. White was the only other Phoenix to score in double figures with 12 points on 5-of-5 from the floor in 14 minutes. Burnett closed the afternoon with eight points, eight assists and seven rebounds while Graves had eight points and Mercer seven.
 
Stella Clark finished with 13 points to pace the Huskies. She was the only player in double figures for Northeastern with Jasmine Braswell adding nine points and Giacone eight.
 
NOTES
-With two field goals in the opening 2:11 of the second quarter after a six-point first quarter, Johnson reached double figures for the sixth-straight game and the 17th time this season.
-Elon was held to four offensive rebounds, which marks the fewest in a game this season. Held to eight at Hofstra on Friday, it's the first time this season the Phoenix has been held to single-digit offensive rebounds in consecutive games.
-Northeastern guard Jess Genco did not play Sunday. She entered the game averaging 37.6 minutes per game and led the team with 14.2 points per outing.
 
UP NEXT
After an open date Friday, Feb. 23, Elon will hold Senior Day on Sunday, Feb. 25, in Alumni Gym when it hosts Hofstra at 2 p.m. The Phoenix will honor Shay Burnett, Meme Garner and Malaya Johnson before the game, as well as three senior managers.