Elon, N.C. - Evonna McGill secured her first double-double of the season, but her output was not enough as the Elon Phoenix (8-18, 4-11 CAA) suffered a senior day loss to the College of Charleston (11-14, 6-9 CAA) Saturday.
 
McGill finished her afternoon with a team high 17 points as well as the team high in rebounds with 12, including four offensive boards. The 17 points matched her season high which was secured at North Carolina Central on Nov. 27. Her 12 rebounds were a career high, besting her previous high of 10 against the same Charleston Cougars during Elon's CAA quarterfinal loss last March.
 
Jada Logan was the story for the Cougars, finishing with a game high 23 points, including two clutch free throws with just under 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter that all but iced the game for Charleston. Alexis Andrews joined Logan in double figures with 17 points, knocking down 3-of-7 triples.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Elon started off the scoring when Raven Preston converted down low off of a Lenaejha Evans missed three. Evonna McGill responded in kind the next time down the floor, converted an and-one layup and foul shot to put the Phoenix up five within the first 66 seconds.
• Following another McGill layup, the Cougars would respond with a 12-0 run, capped off by a triple by guard Anika McGarity.
• Charleston closed out the quarter on another 6-0 run in the final minute, punctuated with a last second floater by Alexis Andrews to give the Cougars a 22-12 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes.
• The second quarter turned into a game of two-on-two between the Phoenix's Lenaejha Evans and Evonna McGill and the Cougars' Jada Logan and Anika McGarity. The quartet combined for every point in the second quarter until Zoe McCrary converted two free throws with 1:40 left in the second quarter.
• The Phoenix would get a boost from Chloe Williams in the scorebook and on the glass in the final 100 seconds. Following a missed layup by Hannah Dereje, Williams snatched the offensive rebound and would convert two foul shots to cut the Cougar lead to seven.
•  Following a Charleston turnover, the Phoenix took the ball out on the side of their own backcourt with 3.1 seconds left. Following a great fake, Raven Preston charged down the floor, making it to the basket, and finger-rolled a layup home as the buzzer sounded to cut the Charleston lead to 32-27 going into the break.
• The Cougars would start the second half hot on a 13-0 run that stretched their lead to 18. Alexis Andrews led the charge by scoring nine of her 17 total points during the stretch.
• Elon would counter with a 6-0 run of its own with Lenaejha Evans and Raven Preston converting on fast break opportunities. The Phoenix would close the quarter by cutting the Charleston lead to 11 with a layup by Evans and a late foul shot by Ajia James.
• James got hot from behind the arc to start the fourth. Draining one three-pointer from the right wing and one from the right corner, she cut the Charleston lead to just five. The 6-0 spurt forced Charleston to take a quick time out just 52 seconds into the fourth quarter.
• Both teams would endure scoring droughts over the next three and a half minutes, but four straight points by Charleston and two free throws from Jada Logan would push the Cougar lead back to 10.
• Elon scored seven straight over the next three minutes thanks to another three-pointer by Ajia James, two Raven Preston free throws and two more second chance points from Evonna McGill to close the gap to 55-52.
• The teams would trade free throws until a layup by Raven Preston off of a great find from Ajia James cut the Charleston lead to 58-56. The Phoenix were then forced to foul and two free throws from Jada Logan would finish off the Phoenix for good. 

NOTES AND STATS

• The double-double by Evonna McGill was her first of the season and the second of her career in a Phoenix uniform. Her only other double-double came against the College of Charleston in the 2022 CAA Tournament quarterfinal loss to the Cougars where she tallied 19 points and 10 boards.
• Raven Preston contributed 16 points on the afternoon, her 14^th game of the season reaching double figures.
• Lenaejha Evans kept her double-figure scoring streak alive, scoring 11 points. The graduate from Conway, S.C. has now reached double figures in six consecutive games and is averaging over 15 points per game during that stretch.
• Ajia James knocked down three triples against the Cougars. This was the fourth game this season in which James has converted on three or more triples. Her season high is four three-pointers against the High Point Panthers, including the game winning three to beat High Point with 5.1 seconds left.
• For the fourth time in five games the Phoenix snatched up double-digit offensive rebounds. Elon finished with 15 offensive rebounds against the Cougars, matching their output against Charleston earlier this month.

NEXT UP

• The Phoenix will head to Williamsburg, Va. to take on the William & Mary Tribe at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24, and will be off Saturday. The Phoenix will play their final regular season home game on March 2 as Elon will play host to the UNCW Seahawks.