Virginia Tech 73, Elon 66
BLACKSBURG, Va. - A late 14-7 run over the final 2:51 of the game proved to be too much for the Elon University women's basketball team to overcome on Thursday night, Nov. 18, as the Virginia Tech Hokies came back from 10-points down in the second half to top the Phoenix, 73-66, at Cassell Coliseum.
Sophomore guard Ali Ford led all players with 22 points in the loss, while Lei Lei Hairston finished with 11 points and 11 boards for her first-career double-double.
Following her MVP performance at the Phoenix Classic, sophomore forward Kelsey Evans put up another stellar game for Elon, scoring nine points and grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds and recording a game-high five blocks. Evans has recorded 10 blocks over the last two games.
"We played so hard tonight and I am extremely proud of our team's effort," said Elon head coach Karen Barefoot. "We really dictated the pace of the game for all 40 minutes and our press was very effective all night long. But Virginia Tech is a good team and managed to go on a late run to win it."
Elon managed to make it a 11-10 game with 11:59 remaining in the first half on an Evans jumper in the paint, but Virginia Tech went on a 9-2 run over the next four-plus minutes to take a 20-12 lead with 7:10 left.
Hairston helped the Phoenix cut the deficit to three with 4:09 remaining, as her three-pointer from the top of the key made it a 25-23 game. Hairston split a pair of free throws with 3:31 left to make it a one-point game, 25-24.
Elon claimed its first lead of the game 1:38 left in the half after a Ford three-ball gave the Phoenix a 29-28 advantage.
The Phoenix led, 33-30, at intermission after a Kelsey Harris three in the corner helped Elon go into the locker room with momentum.
Despite shooting 33.3 percent from the field in the opening frame, the Phoenix dominated the Hokies on the boards, out-rebounding Virginia Tech, 30-15, including a 13-4 edge on the offensive glass. Hairston grabbed a game-high nine at the half, while Ford led all scorers with 12 points.
The Elon offense kept its foot on the gas to open the second half, as the Phoenix went on a 8-1 run in the first 2:10 of the final frame to claim its largest lead of the game, 41-31, forcing a Virginia Tech timeout.
The Hokies cut the deficit to two points with 10:12 left after a Shanel Harrison layup and made free throw, but the Phoenix scored on back-to-back shots from Ford and Gause to take a 54-48 lead and force a VT timeout.
Virginia Tech tied the game at 54-all with 6:28 remaining after a Nikki Davis jumper connected, forcing Elon to regroup and call a timeout.
The Hokies took the lead for the first time since the 1:13 mark in first half with just under six minutes remaining after a pair of Aerial Wilson makes from the charity stripe gave VT a 56-55 advantage.
Tiara Gause helped Elon climb back in the game with 2:51 left, as her two made free throws made it a 59-all game.
But the Hokies managed to close out the Phoenix down the stretch after going on a 14-7 run to narrowly escape with the win.
Elon returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 21, for a 2 p.m. contest with Coastal Carolina at Alumni Gym.
Vanderbilt 70, Samford 60
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Vanderbilt's Stephanie Holzer scored 26 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the 20th-ranked Commodore women's basketball team to a 70-60 win over Samford Thursday night at Memorial Gymnasium.
"These were two teams that played extremely hard," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I was definitely pleased with our effort. For our team, turnovers were a big key. We can't execute well enough when we have too many turnovers, but their defense had a lot to do with that. There's a reason they are ranked in the top 25. They're physical and they're as well-coached a team as you're ever going to face."
As a team, Samford committed 23 turnovers, while Vanderbilt turned the ball over 25 times. The Commodores out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 31-22 on the night.
Samford was led in scoring by senior forward Savannah Hill with 20 points. Freshman guard Shelby Campbell had 10 points and a team-high five rebounds. Ruth Ketcham scored nine points, while Emily London added eight points for the Bulldogs.
For Vanderbilt behind Holzer, Hannah Tuomi had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jasmine Lister scored 14 points for the Commodores as well.
The score was close early in the first half, with Samford taking a 5-4 lead with 16:10 to go in the half after a pair of free throws by London. Vanderbilt, however, went on a 13-0 run to take a 17-5 lead with 12:20 to go in the half after two free throws by Holzer.
With Vanderbilt leading, 22-12, Samford closed the half with a 10-4 run to cut the lead to four at 26-22 heading into halftime after a layup by Hill.
Samford tied the score early in the second half at 28-28 with 17:44 to go after a three-pointer by Hannah Dawson. With Vanderbilt leading, 39-36, the Commodores went on a 14-4 run to take a 13-point lead at 53-40 with 8:48 to go after a jumper by Holzer.
Samford fought back to cut the lead to six at 55-49 with 6:43 remaining following a three-pointer by Ketcham. Vanderbilt pushed its lead back out to 13 at 64-51 with 3:24 to go after a layup by Holzer. Samford could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way as the Commodores came away with the 70-60 win.
Vanderbilt shot 57.1 percent as a team, including a 64.3-percent effort in the second half. Samford made 41.7 percent of its shots, including 56.5 percent after halftime.
With the loss, Samford drops to 0-2 on the season. Vanderbilt improves to 2-0 with the win.
Samford will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 23, when the Bulldogs play at in-state rival Jacksonville State. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from JSU's Pete Mathews Coliseum.