NEWARK, Del. – Raven Preston banked in a desperation 3-pointer from the top of the arc as time expired, and the Elon women's basketball team secured its first CAA victory, outlasting Delaware 63-60 on Friday at Bob Carpenter Arena.
With the score tied at 60 with 5.2 seconds left, Preston inbounded the ball to
Evonna McGill next to the Phoenix bench. McGill tried to pass the ball back to Preston, but when a Blue Hen player poked it loose, it appeared as if time would run out with both teams scrambling for the ball. McGill, however, corralled it and quickly passed it to Preston, who threw up her game-winning shot with less a second remaining.
Preston's 3-pointer helped her finish with a game-high 17 points. McGill (13 points),
Kamryn Doty (13) and
Ajia James (10) also scored in double figures, and James added 10 rebounds for her eighth career double-double and her first with the Phoenix (5-15, 1-8 CAA).
Jewel Smalls led Delaware (10-8, 3-4) with 12 points. Klarke Sconiers (11) and Tara Cousins (10) also finished in double figures.
THE RUNDOWN
- After the Blue Hens scored the first two points of the game, Elon went on a 9-2 run to seize a 9-4 lead. Delaware quickly responded with an 11-0 run, though, and after Preston made a layup with 35 seconds left in the first period, Kharis Idom drained two free throws to give the Blue Hens a 17-11 lead entering the second.
- Coming out of the break, Cousins made a 3-pointer to extend Delaware's lead to 20-11. That proved to be the largest lead of the game for either team, but the Phoenix slowly chipped away at it, drawing even with a 7-0 run midway through the period. The Blue Hens pulled back ahead by three with a minute left in the first half, but Doty drew a shooting foul at the buzzer and made 2-of-3 free throws to cut the halftime deficit to 29-28.
- In scoring the first three points of the second half, Elon seized a 31-29 lead, its first since midway through the first quarter. A quick 5-0 spurt by the Blue Hens quickly put them back ahead, but the Phoenix responded with a 12-2 run to secure its largest lead at 43-36. Smalls closed the quarter with a 3-pointer, but Elon still entered the fourth with a 43-39 lead.
- After both teams traded baskets over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, Delaware went on a 5-0 run to even the score at 54 with 1:59 left. That marked the first of three ties in the final two minutes – the last of which came when Makayla Pippin went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line with five seconds left. The Phoenix called a timeout after that, setting the stage for Preston's heroics.
NOTES
- Preston's buzzer-beater was Elon's second game-winning shot with less than five seconds left this season. James made a 3-pointer with five seconds left against High Point on Nov. 13, 2022.
- Preston finished in double figures for the seventh time in nine CAA games.
- James' double-double marked her first with the Phoenix. The junior recorded seven as a freshman at Saint Peter's in 2020-21.
- Doty's 13 points were a career high, besting her previous high of 11, set on two occasions.
- Vanessa Taylor made her first start of the season and the 35th of her career.
- Elon's four double-digit scorers tied for its most this season. The Phoenix also had four against UNCG on Nov. 19, 2022.
- Elon shot 51% (26-for-51), its third-best mark of the season and its best since shooting 52% on Dec. 18, 2022, at Davidson.
- The win was the Phoenix's first at Delaware since Feb. 24, 2017.
UP NEXT
- Elon will wrap up its two-game road trip Sunday at Drexel. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
-- ELON --
