ELON, N.C.— Despite a career night for Brie Perpignan, Elon women's basketball fell short to James Madison on Feb. 4, 56-71.
 
"Well, we made a really big push in the second half to eliminate the deficit, so I'm pleased with our effort and our intensity and focus in the second half," said head coach Charlotte Smith. "It just felt like every time we would push to get back we would miss a loose ball here and there and just couldn't get our hands on the rebound to try to close the gap. But we just have to do a better job on the boards. Its really that simple."
 
THE RUNDOWN
-The Phoenix opened the scoring with a layup from Perpignan and extended its lead with an and-one from Tyja Traore (5-2) with just over a minute into the opening frame. The score remained close until a late 7-0 JMU run gave the Dukes a 22-15 lead with under a minute remaining. The quarter concluded with Elon trailing 17-25.
-JMU outscored Elon 12-4 in the first five minutes of the second period, taking a 37-32 lead with 5:11 left in the half. The Phoenix rallied late with a 7-0 run, but would go into halftime trailing 30-42.
-The Phoenix picked up the momentum midway through the third quarter, outscoring the Dukes 12-4 and cutting the JMU lead to 10 (42-52) with 2:44 remaining. A 5-0 run in 38 seconds brought the Phoenix closer, but a JMU layup in the final minute put the Dukes up 47-56 going into the final 10 minutes of play.
-Following a layup by Kayla Liles, the Dukes went on a 6-0 run to grow their lead to 13 (49-62). However, Elon answered 7-0 run that included back-to-back threes from Perpignan and Liles to bring the game within six (56-62). The maroon and gold did not add to its score the rest of the contest as James Madison secured the win.     
 
NOTES
-Perpignan finished with a career-high 35, shooting 14-of-24 from the field. The guard is the first Elon player since the 2017-18 season to score over 1,000-career points (Malaya Johnson) and 25th member of the 1,000-point club in program history. She also finished the night just two points shy of tying for fourth place in program rankings for single-game points.
-Liles tallied 11 points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
-Traore paced the Phoenix in rebounds (6) in addition to posting five points and a pair of blocks.
-Peyton Carter led the Phoenix in assists (5) for a new career high.
-Maya Johnson contributed four rebounds and two blocks.
-With the loss, Elon drops to 10-8 (2-6 CAA).  
 
UP NEXT
Elon will take on Towson in its annual Play4Kay game on Sunday Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. inside Schar Center.