DAVIDSON, N.C. – Raven Preston erupted for a career-high 31 points – including 15 in the fourth quarter – but it wasn't enough as the Elon women's basketball team lost 74-72 to Davidson on Sunday at John M. Belk Arena.
 
Preston went 11-for-16 from the floor, including 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, en route to her fifth straight double-digit scoring performance and the most points by a freshman in the Charlotte Smith era (since 2011-12). The Greensboro, N.C., also tallied a game-high eight rebounds, falling just short of her third double-double.
 
Lenaejha Evans and Bria Harmon followed Preston with 13 points each. All 13 of Evans' points came in the second half, while Harmon's total marked a career high.
 
Five Wildcats finished in double figures, led by Elle Sutphin and her 17 points. Tomisin Adenupe, Suzi-Rose Deegan, Chloe Welch and Issy Morgan followed her with 15, 12, 12 and 11, respectively.
 
With the win, Davidson improved to 5-7. Elon fell to 4-5.
 
"Raven's 15 points in the fourth quarter, that's impressive because that's more than we scored in the first quarter," Smith said. "Our focus was to come out and be more aggressive; we knew one-on-one they couldn't stay in front of us. Finally we got the memo and did some really good things off the dribble. A lot of teams have focused on taking away our inside play, so that frees up more perimeter opportunities to be aggressive and drive.
 
"Unfortunately, we weren't able to string together stops. We finally got some momentum where we were scoring, and now we have to figure out a way to string together stops."
 
THE RUNDOWN
 

• The Phoenix jumped out to a 5-4 lead thanks to a layup by Evonna McGill and a 3-pointer by Preston. As it turned out, that marked Elon's only lead of the game, as the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run and eventually finished the first quarter with a 15-12 lead. The Phoenix went 5-for-9 from the field in the period, but it also committed eight turnovers.
• Elon ran into foul trouble early in the second quarter, as McGill and Evans picked up their second and third fouls, respectively, within the first 1:07 and were regulated to the bench for the rest of the period. Davidson took advantage of their absences by building a nine-point lead, but Elon finished the half on a 9-3 run to enter the break down 30-27.
• Coming out of halftime, the Wildcats went on an 8-3 run, extending their lead to 38-30.  Not to be deterred, the Phoenix responded with a 10-2 run – highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers by Preston and Kamryn Doty – to tie the game at 40, but Davidson outscored Elon 11-3 in the final 3:35 to secure a 54-45 lead by the end of the third quarter.
• The Wildcats stretched their lead to a game-high 10 points early in the fourth quarter, but Elon answered with a 9-2 run to pull within three with four minutes left.
• With 1:18 remaining, Harmon made a pair of free throws to cut Davidson's lead to 64-62. The Wildcats appeared to put the game away when they scored the next four points, all at the free-throw line, but Preston kept the Phoenix alive, scoring eight straight for Elon in a 36-second span.
• Despite the freshman's efforts, Morgan made two free throws with four seconds left to give Davidson a four-point lead, and all the Phoenix could muster before the final buzzer was a layup by Harmon.

 
NOTES
 

• Preston's 31 points were the most by a freshman in Smith's 12-season tenure. The previous record was held by Zora Stephenson, who scored 28 against Virginia Intermont on Nov. 18, 2011.
• Preston's 31 points were the most by an Elon player since Brie Perpignan had 34 against James Madison on Feb. 4.
• Having already notched 22 points against Old Dominion on Nov. 22 and 26 against NC Central on Nov. 27, Preston became the first freshman to post three 20-point games under Smith. Shay Burnett is the only other freshman to notch more than one such performance with two in 2014-15.
• Preston led the Phoenix in rebounding for the sixth time this season. She's averaging a team-best 7.9 boards through nine games.
• Evans registered her seventh consecutive double-digit scoring performance. In that span, she's averaging 15 points on 48.8% shooting (41-for-84). The streak comes after the Rider transfer scored six points on 3-for-12 shooting in her first two games with Elon.
• Harmon's 13 points bested her previous career high of 10, set on two occasions.
• Aly Wadkovsky hauled in five rebounds, matching her total through her first six career games.
• The Phoenix shot 52% from the field, its second-best mark of the season.
• Elon's seven 3-pointers matched its season high, set against Richmond on Thursday.
• The Phoenix committed 19 turnovers, leading to 20 points.

 
UP NEXT
 

• Elon will travel to Orlando, Fla., to compete in the UCF Holiday Classic. The Phoenix will face Loyola Chicago at 12 p.m. Tuesday before playing UCF at 12 p.m. Wednesday.