WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Elon University women's basketball finished out its regular season with a 49-45 win over William & Mary on March 5.

"I am very proud of this team," said head coach Charlotte Smith. "We got off to a slow start to the season due to injuries, but our goal was to regroup and finish at .500 or more. We dug ourselves out of a conference-record deficit, winning the last 7 of 9 games. This is very impressive and to be commended. Today wasn't a pretty win, but we will take it. Onward and upward…CAA tourney here we come!"
 
THE RUNDOWN
-The Phoenix jumped out to an early 12-2 lead six minutes into the contest. The Tribe managed to cut the Elon lead to six (12-6), but back-to-back threes from Kayla Liles and Ariana Nance and a field goal from the Tribe made the score 18-8 going into the second period.
-Elon once again held the Tribe to single-digit scoring, outscoring W&M 8-3 to hold a 15-point advantage at the half (26-11).
-William & Mary picked it up in the second half. After the Phoenix took a 30-13 lead, the Tribe responded with a 10-1 run to cut the Elon lead to eight (31-23). The teams would them trade points the rest of the quarter, with Tribe trailing by nine (38-29) headed into the final 10 minutes of play.
-With 5:29 on the clock and Elon leading 40-34, William & Mary scored six unanswered points to tie the game for the first time the entire contest. Each team managed to add five points to its score, but four points from Brie Perpignan in the final two minutes secured the win for the Phoenix.
 
NOTES
-Evonna McGill paced the Elon offense with 13 points, shooting 6-of-9 from the field, while Perpignan and Nance followed with 12 apiece. Nance's points were the highest she has recorded since she posted 15 against Gardner-Webb over two months ago on Dec. 20.  
-Perpignan led the team in assists (5), while Liles and Nance each chipped in two.   
-Liles registered a team-high nine rebounds on the day in addition to five points and two assists. She also tied McGill for the team best in steals (2).
-McGill's steals matched her season high, which she set on Nov. 15 against Howard.  
-Maya Johnson paced the team in blocks (2).  
-The Phoenix has now won back-to-back matchups against the Tribe, marking the first time Elon has done so since the 2017-18 season.
-For the first time since its 2017-18 campaign, the maroon and gold ends its regular season at .500 or above in both its conference record (9-9) and road record (7-7).
-Elon has swept four conference opponents this season, Charleston, Hofstra, UNCW and William & Mary.
-With the win, the maroon and gold improves to 17-11 (9-9 CAA) on the season.
 
UP NEXT
Elon will compete in 2022 CAA Women's Basketball Championship presented by Primis at the Daskalakis Center on the campus of Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pa. beginning Thursday, March 10.