ELON, N.C. ? Elon landed nine of its players in the scoring column and led throughout the contest, dispatching Southern Virginia for a 74-33 non-conference women’s basketball triumph Thursday afternoon at Alumni Gym.
The Phoenix (2-19) forged commanding advantages in rebounding (49-35), assists (10-5), turnovers (13-26), steals (15-6), points in the paint (38-18), points off turnovers (25-6), second chance points (19-2), fast break points (14-0) and bench points (22-4).
Elon shot 41.1 percent (30 of 73) from the floor ? 47.4 percent (18 of 38) in the first half ? and 61.1 percent (11 of 18) from the free throw line. The Knights (11-8) fired 26.5 percent (13 of 49) from the field and 85.7 percent (6 of 7) from the charity stripe.
Tiara Gause (15 points), Ursyla Cotton (12 points and eight rebounds), Tiffany Davis (12 points, four assists and four steals), Julie Taylor (10 points), Courtney Medley (nine points and four steals), Aiesha Harper (eight points and three assists) and Erica Keto (11 rebounds) spearheaded the balanced offensive attack for the Phoenix. SVU was led by Tricia Dixon (11 points) and Kezia Ford (eight rebounds).
The game capped Elon’s fifth annual “Education Day with the Phoenix” festivities as nearly 500 fifth-grade students from Andrews, Eastlawn, Haw River, Newlin, North Graham and South Graham Elementary Schools visited “The Nest.” With the win, Elon improved to 3-2 in its “Education Day” games.
Elon has been holding “Education Day” since 2005 ? organized by Trip Durham, Elon Associate Director of Athletics for Marketing ? as local school children annually visit the campus one morning for educational activities and then attend a women’s basketball game after lunch.
Beginning at 10 a.m. in Jordan Gym, the students received instruction from Elon coaches, staff and student-athletes. Following their lessons in mathematics, geography and fitness, the children were served lunch before cheering on the Phoenix in the 11:45 a.m. Game in Alumni Gym.
Elon erupted to an early 11-2 advantage on a jumper by Taylor with 16:25 left to play in the opening period. Southern Virginia responded with a 6-2 spurt to draw to within 13-8 on a layup by Jasmin Johnson with 14:13 remaining before the break. The Phoenix then proceeded to outscore the Knights 32-5 over the next 13-and-a-half minutes to build a 45-13 cushion on a bucket by Gause with 43 seconds left in the first frame and never looked back.
Returning to Southern Conference action, Elon will host Samford at 2 p.m. Saturday in Alumni Gym. Meanwhile, Southern Virginia visits Wilson at 3 p.m. Saturday.