Elon 69, Morgan State 61
BALTIMORE, Md. - Behind a game-high 24 points from Ali Ford, the Elon University women's basketball team captured its first road win of the season on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 5, as the Phoenix registered a 69-61 victory over the Morgan State Lady Bears inside Hill Field House.
Elon improves to 5-3 on the year, while Morgan State drops to 5-3 with the loss.
"I am proud of how we stayed together as a team today and showed a lot of poise against a very aggressive and determined Morgan State team,"
said Elon head coach Karen Barefoot. "Overall, we demonstrated a lot of character and shot the ball extremely well today."
Ford scored 20+ points for the fourth time this season, shooting
8-for-12 from the field, including a 6-of-9 mark from beyond the arc.
Ford also dished out four assists and tallied four steals in the win.
In her homecoming back to Baltimore, Julie Taylor, a Columbia, Md.
native, had a stellar game for the Phoenix, scoring a season-high13 points off the bench on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, including a
3-for-6 performance from three point land.
"Julie hit several key shots for us and really provided us with a spark when we needed it," Barefoot said.
Kelsey Evans just missed recording her fourth double-double of the season, as she grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go along with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.
Lei Lei Hairston was the fourth Phoenix player to score in double figures, going for 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
Elon recorded its second highest field goal percentage of the season in the victory, shooting 51 percent (26-of-51) from the field, including a scolding 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Phoenix won the battle of the boards over the Lady Bears, 43-26, while out-blocking Morgan State, 4-2. Lisa Archie had a game-high two blocks off the bench for Elon, putting her at 14 on the year.
Ahead by as many as 13 points in the first half, Elon went into the locker room with a 32-24 advantage, as Ford led all players with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, including a 4-of-5 clip from beyond the arc. Evans was the only other scorer in double figures at the half, as the Raleigh, N.C. native tallied 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, while grabbing a game-high six boards.
The Phoenix held the Lady Bears to 28.6 percent shooting from the field in the opening frame, including a 15.4 percent (2-of-13) mark from beyond the arc. Elon shot 42.9 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, sinking 6-of-11 from three-point land (54.5 percent).
Ford continued to have the hot hand to start the second half, sinking a pair of threes to help lead a 17-9 run that led to a 49-33 Elon lead with under 16 minutes to play in the second half.
Elon would go up by as many as 16 points in the second half, as coast-to-coast layup by Taylor with 11:26 to play gave the Phoenix a 56-40 advantage.
The Lady Bears managed to pull within 10 points with 7:15 remaining in the game after Erin Hawkins connected from long distance in the corner to make it a 58-48 game. MSU came within single digits of the Phoenix for the first time since the early stages of the game with under seven minutes to play to make it a 60-51 game.
The Lady Bears forced an Elon timeout with 5:00 remaining in the game after southpaw MyQueisha Bratton hit a three pointer and limited the Phoenix's lead to 61-54. Bratton led Morgan State with a team-high 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
But Taylor helped extend Elon's lead to 11 points with less than four minutes to play, as her three-ball from the top of the key gave the Phoenix a 65-54 advantage.
Morgan State managed to pull within seven points down the stretch, but a strong defensive effort from the Phoenix kept the Lady Bears at arm's length to secure the win.
Elon will take its talents back to the friendly confines of Alumni Gym on Saturday, Dec. 18, for its White Out game against Western Carolina at
2 p.m. Elon fans will receive a free T-shirt at the door for the team's first Southern Conference home game of the season versus the Catamounts.
Maryland 81, Appalachian State 65
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Appalachian State University women's basketball posted a valiant effort, but was unable to pull off an upset Sunday afternoon against No. 22 Maryland, as the Apps dropped a 81-65 decision to its Atlantic Coast Conference foe. The loss snaps a four-game winning for the Black and drops ASU to 6-2 overall, while Maryland improves 7-1 on the season.
In a tale of two halves, Appalachian was unable to put together a complete contest.
After heading into halftime down just 39-38, Maryland came out firing in the second half and never relinquished its advantage.
Appalachian unfortunately, came out of the break sluggish and Maryland took advantage, posting an unstoppable streak that proved to be
the different maker in the contest.
The Terrapins outscored the Black and Gold 14-2 in the first five and a half minutes of second-half play, pushing their lead to 13 points, making the score 53-40 with a little over 14 minutes to play.
Diandra Tchatchouang paced Maryland during the run, pouring in eight points, all coming from down low.
Tchatchouang scored a game-best 17 points, while hauling in seven rebounds and dishing out two assists.
Ashlen Dewart tried to get something going offensively for the Apps and was able to convert a layup and cut the squad's deficit to its narrowest of the second-half, down 10 points. However, it was not enough as Maryland handed Appalachian the 16-point defeat.
Despite the lopsided second-half, the Black and Gold were nothing short of brilliant in first-half play and gave No. 22 Maryland all the Terrapins could ask for.
It appeared UM might run away with it early on as the Terps jumped out to an early 7-2 advantage but the Apps rallied and knotted play at both the 11 point and 19 point marks.
A 5-0 Maryland streak saw UM grab a 24-19 lead, but Sam Ramirez came alive on the offensive front drilling a trey to cut Appalachian's deficit to just two points.
Maryland was able to push its lead out to five points once more, but Ramirez connected on yet another three-pointer her third of the first half to cut the Mountaineers' deficit to two, down 34-32.
The trey gave Ramirez the 178th of her career, making her Appalachian's all-time career-leader in three-point field goals made, surpassing former-Appalachian great Lindsay Smith in the category.
Ramirez ended the contest tying Dewart as ASU's leading-scorer pouring in 15 points, while grabbing three boards.
Six made Black and Gold free throws in the waning minutes of first-half play, with five coming from Canesha Edwards saw the Mountaineers head into the break down just one.
Edwards was phenomenal yet again for ASU, totaling a double-double, scoring 11 points and notching 13 rebounds.
Maryland would prove to be too much for Appalachian in the second half however, and even though ASU was able to pull within 11 points with less than two minutes play, Maryland went on to grab the win.
With a 12-day break for final exams, Appalachian returns to the hardwood Saturday, December 18, as they head to Greenville, S.C. to square off against Furman. The contest between the Paladins and Mountaineer is slated to start at 2 p.m. from Furman's Timmons Arena.