HIGH POINT, N.C. ? Taking a break from conference play, the Elon women’s basketball team fell 82-48 to the High Point Panthers in front of 609 fans at Millis Athletic Center in High Point, N.C. The win marked the fifth straight by High Point who improved to 8-9 on the season. The Phoenix dropped to 1-16.
Julie Taylor and Erica Keto led the Phoenix with eight points each, while Amber Wall added seven. Wall also pulled down eight rebounds in the effort.
Shamia Brown led all scorers with 22 points, including an impressive 20 points in the first half. LaTeisha Dean added 13, while dishing out five assists.
High Point set the tone early, scoring the opening 12 points of the half. A layup by Sharwil Bell ended the drought with a layup at the 14:29 mark. Tedcandra McKoy, Mackenzie Maier and Dean each pulled down seven rebounds.
Taylor drained a three to send the Phoenix into double-digits to cut the Panther lead to eight at 19-11. Taylor recorded a layup that allowed the Phoenix to pull within six.
Keeping the Phoenix scoreless for the final eight minutes of the half, High Point’s Brown orchestrated a 14-0 run on her own, going seven-for-seven from the field to make it a 36-15 game. Frances Fields and Dean ended the Brown scoring frenzy to make it a 25-point game with under two minutes to play. Brown added a fast-break layup to end the first half with 20 points.
A Wall free throw maked Elon’s first point of the second half. A heads up play by Keto, who grabbed the rebound off of the second free throw turned it into a three-point play that made it a 46-22 game.
Elon put together a 9-0 run that brought the score to 58-31. Taylor added her second three of the night that was followed by a pair of Medley free throws with 10:47 remaining in the half. Two buckets by HPU’s McKoy and Fields forced the Phoenix to call a timeout with 9:01 mark.
Anna Dellapenta recorded her first point of the season on a free throw at 6:39 that brought the score to72-38. Davis added a jumper that was followed by a basket by Bell.
Keto added two off a perfectly executed alley-oop that she followed by a jumper that earned her eight point of the night, a new career best for the freshman.
The Phoenix held High Point to two points over the final three minutes of the game, while scoring its final points on a layup by Gause.
A jumper with just over two minutes to play by Dean sealed the 81-48 victory for High Point.
Elon will host Western Carolina in a Southern Conference showdown Monday, Jan. 19 at Alumni Gym. Live stats and video will be available for the matchup at www.elonphoenix.com.