HARRISONBURG, Va.– Elon University women's basketball dropped its second CAA matchup in a tight contest at James Madison on Sunday Jan. 9, 57-59. 
 
THE RUNDOWN
Both teams found success getting to the basket early, resulting in five lead changes in the opening period. JMU strung a couple of shots together late to take four-point lead (13-17) going into second.
 
The Dukes held the momentum in the second quarter, growing its lead to as high as seven. With just seconds left in the half and James Madison holding a 33-26 advantage, Brie Perpignan beat her defender off the dribble, stopped and fired a two-point jumper that rattled in as the buzzer sounded to make the score 28-33 at the half.
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The maroon and gold opened the scoring in the second half with a three pointer from Kayla Liles to bring the Phoenix within two points of the Dukes (31-33). After the teams traded points, a field goal from Perpignan ignited a 6-0 run that gave the Phoenix a 39-36 advantage with 1:45 remaining. The Dukes responded, however, with back-to-back layups to make the score 39-40 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
The back-and-forth scoring continued into the fourth quarter, with the Dukes maintaining a slight lead for most of the period. With 55 seconds on the clock, Ariana Nance scored on a driving layup, which was followed by three from Liles that brought Elon to within one (56-57) with ten seconds left in the game. Following a pair of free throws from James Madison's Kiki Jefferson, Perpignan drew a foul on a three-point shot in the final seconds to give the Phoenix an opportunity to tie the game from behind the free throw line. The guard went 1-of-3 from behind the charity stripe, resulting in the win for the Dukes.
 
NOTES
-Evonna McGill paced the maroon and gold offense with a career-high 19 points, followed by Perpignan with 16. Perpignan also had four rebounds and a game-high four steals in addition to tying Ariana Nance for the team high in assists (3).
-Liles tallied seven points and led the team in three pointers (2).
-Nance recorded a team-best five rebounds while also chipping in six points.  
-The Phoenix forced 22 JMU turnovers over the course of the game. Elon has now forced 20 or more turnovers in five games this season.
-With the loss, the Phoenix now stands at 8-4 (0-2 CAA) on the season.
 
UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns to Schar Center to take on College of Charleston on Friday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m.