Elon 105, Virginia Intermont 53
ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women’s basketball team put five players in double figures on Friday night, Nov. 18, in Alumni Gym en route to a 105-53 blowout over the Virginia Intermont Lady Cobras.
Rookie Zora Stephenson had an impressive night, scoring a game-high 28 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the field, including 8-of-12 from beyond the arc. Stephenson’s eight three-pointers are tied for the third most in a single game in program history. As a team, Elon connected on 13 three-point field goals.
Elon’s 105 points are the most in a game since the team scored 111 in a win over Averett on Dec. 1, 1999.
Junior Kelsey Evans finished with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field in the win to go along with six boards and a blocked shot.
Junior Ali Ford chipped in 10 points in the win, while sophomores Kelsey Harris and Candice Silas each finished the night with 11 points.
The Phoenix shot 53 percent (36-for-68) from the field and 80 percent (20-of-25) from the free throw line in the win, while limiting the Lady Cobras to a 35 percent night from the field.
Elon had no trouble on the glass for the second straight game, as the Phoenix outrebounded the Lady Cobras 45-26 in the win.
Elon went up by 18 points in the first half, doubling-up the Lady Cobras with 5:16 remaining on a Jermile’ Batten jumper to make it a 36-18 game.
The Phoenix went into the locker room with a 49-24 advantage after shooting 49 percent from the field in the first half, including 5-of-13 from long distance. Stephenson led all scorers with 11 first-half points.
Elon began the second half of a 5-0 run and quickly forced a Virginia Intermont timeout with 18:20 remaining after a Harris steal near midcourt led to an easy transition bucket to make it a 55-24 game.
Silas gave the Phoenix a 40-point cushion with 11:07 to play after a great move in the post led to an easy layup to make it a 72-32 game.
The Phoenix went up by as many as 49 points in the final frame, capped off by an Evans three-ball with 4:52 to play, the junior’s first-career make from beyond the arc.
Elon will make the short trek to Charlotte tomorrow night for a 7 p.m. tip with the Charlotte 49ers inside Halton Arena.
Davidson 69, High Point 82
HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point Panthers put four of its five starters in double figures and used a second-half surge to take an 82-69 home win over Davidson on Friday evening in the Millis Center in a non-conference women’s basketball contest.
High Point, which shot 52.5 percent for the game, improved to 2-1 on the year, while Davidson fell to 1-2 and saw its three-game win streak come to an end in the all-time series.
The ‘Cats were again led by the duo of Sophia Aleksandravicius and Laura Murray, who each hit the 20-point for the second time in the last three games. Aleksandravicius had her first double-double of the season with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Murray dropped in 21 points and dished out seven assists.
Barbara Sitton dished out a career-high nine dimes as Davidson had a season-best 23 assists.
Shamia Brown, Cheyenne Parker and Erin Reynolds each scored 18 points for the Panthers, and Tayler Tremblay was the fourth starter in double digits with 11 points. Parker added 10 rebounds for a double-double.
HPU shot 53.6 percent in the second half when it outscored the Wildcats 42-33. The Panthers used a 19-10 second-half run to turn a tied game into a 10-point advantage.
Down 40-36 at the half, Davidson ran off a quick 7-0 spurt to start the new half and took a 43-40 lead. It looked as though the ‘Cats would continue their run, but HPU battled back to knot things up at 50-all with 13:22 to go.
After Aleksandravicius hit a layup at the 10:38 mark to bring Davidson to within two at 54-52, the offense went cold. The Wildcats scored just seven points over the next seven-and-half minutes and found themselves down 77-59 after Brown hit a layup.
Aleksandravicius snapped the drought for the Wildcats with a three-point play, but it was to late as they got no closer than 10 points in the final three minutes, falling 82-69.
The Wildcats carried their hot-shooting touch from Monday night’s home opener vs. Mercer into the first half, draining 57.1 percent (16-28). Murray gave the ‘Cats a 16-15 lead on a jumper in the paint at the 11:11 mark, but the Panthers rattled off a 16-4 run and Davidson found itself down 31-20 with under six minutes left in the half.
Four straight points by Murray got the Wildcats’ offense going again and Davidson closed to within one, 37-36, with 45 ticks left, before HPU closed the half up 40-36 on a putback by Parker.
The Wildcats return home to John M. Belk Arena for a 6 p.m. tip against Gardner-Webb on Monday, Nov. 21. It is part of a doubleheader with the men’s team, who will host Presbyterian following the women’s game.
Chattanooga 75, Indiana State 54
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga outscored Indiana State 23-2 over the final 6:06 of the game to come away with a 75-54 win over the Sycamores Friday night at the Hulman Center, wrapping up play in the Preseason WNIT.
The Lady Mocs are 2-1 on the year and will travel to Cancun, Mexico next week for the Triple Crown Sports Cancun Challenge at the Moon Palace Resort. Indiana State falls to 1-2 overall.
Junior Kayla Christopher and senior Whitney Hood combined to scored 35 second half points after both were held scoreless through the first half.
Christopher went 8-of-9 in the second half making 3-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc, including one deep in NBA range, and was 3-of-3 from the free throw line while dishing out a game-high four assists.
Hood was in foul trouble early and only played five minutes in the first half. She started the second half and picked up two quick fouls to put her back on the bench with just over three minutes gone in the half. However, Lady Mocs head coach Wes Moore took a gamble and put her back on the court for the final 11 minutes of the game and it paid off with 13 points from his forward.
After trailing by four at the break, the Lady Mocs started the second half with an 8-0 run to take a 36-32 lead with 16:07 to play. Hood started the scoring with a layup followed by six straight points from Christopher off a 3-point play and a quick three-pointer.
Indiana State stepped up and retook the lead with a 7-0 run behind four points from Jessica Valley to go up 39-36 with 12:33 to play. After Christopher sank a 3-pointer at 12:15 to tie it up, the game would remain tightly contested over the next 5:21 where it would get tied up for the 11th and final time on a jumper from ISU's Deja Mattox to make it 52-52.
With 6:06 to play, Hood hit a short jumper to give the Lady Mocs the lead for good and senior Tenisha Towsend hit her fourth jumper of the game with 1:39 to play to cap a 15-0 scoring run for UTC. After the Sycamores scored on a layup with Natasha Zurek with 1:08 to play, the Lady Mocs eight more points on the board for the 21-point win.
Christopher led all scorers with 22 points and had three boards. Townsend was 4-of-5 on the night, all from beyond the 3-point line, and was 2-for-2 from the free throw line for a season-high 14 points and Hood had 13 points and six rebounds. Junior Kylie Lambert had a team-high 10 rebounds and just missed a double-double with nine points. She had a team-high four assists and three steals. Sophomore Taylor Hall had seven points and nine boards along with three assists, two blocks and two steals.
Freshman Ashley Southern stepped up big in the first half with Hood on the bench and hit a pair of 3-pointers and a layup for a career-high eight points in her third game.
The Lady Mocs shot 63 percent (17-of-27) in the second half from the field and was 12-of-14 from the free throw line, making 9-of-10 in the second half. On the boards, Chattanooga pulled down 35 to the Sycamores' 33 and dished out 18 assists to 15 turnovers with 10 team steals.
UTC opens the Cancun Challenge at 11 a.m. Eastern Time against Idaho State on Thanksgiving morning next week and conclude play late Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. against Cincinnati.