Elon 89, Campbell 88
ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s basketball team held off a late surge from the Campbell Fighting Camels on Wednesday night, Dec. 14, to come up on the positive end of an 89-88 victory in non-conference action from Alumni Gym.
After a Kelsey Evans layup gave Elon (4-4) a 10-point lead, 87-77, with 3:05 remaining in the game, Campbell (6-3) went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to make it a one-point game, 87-86, with 1:10 remaining.
Elon responded following the Campbell make after Evans scored underneath the basket again with 41 seconds left on a great find on the baseline by Ali Ford to extend the Phoenix’s lead to three points, 89-86, allowing head coach Charlotte Smith to call a timeout.
Campbell’s Amanda O’Neil limited the Phoenix to a one-point lead with six seconds remaining after her layup made it an 89-88 game, forcing the Camels into a must-foul situation. Campbell managed to grab the defensive board after Aiesha Harper’s missed one-and-one free throw attempt with three seconds left, but O’Neil’s attempt for the game-winner from just beyond half court sailed wide of the basket to secure the Elon win.
Evans just missed her recording her 17th-career double-double in the win after finishing the night with 21 points and nine boards. Evans went 7-of-11 from the field and 7-of-9 at the free-throw line, which included three old-fashioned three-point plays.
Ford, who came off the bench for the first time in 72 career games played, also finished with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. With the six three-point field goals, Ford has eclipsed 200 career makes from beyond the arc, now sitting at 203. The Morganton, N.C., native was one three-pointer shy of tying her career high set last year against USC Upstate in the Women’s Basketball Invitational.
Elon shot a season-best 54 percent from the field in the win, sinking 31-of-57 field goal attempts, including 11-of-21 (52 percent) of its shots from long distance.
The Fighting Camels put five players in double figures in the high-scoring affair, led by Tonisha Baker’s 25 points on 8-of-18 shooting. Baker also grabbed nine boards for Campbell.
Elon’s Sam Coffer, Zora Stephenson, Aiesha Harper, Kelsesy Harris and Lei Lei Hairston all finished with eight points in the win. Harper tied a career-high with seven assists for the Phoenix, while Coffer dished out a career-best five assists with zero turnovers.
The two squads combined to shoot a total of 60 free throws in the game. Elon went 16-of-24 (67 percent) at the line in the win, while Campbell knocked down 26-of-36 (72 percent) of its attempts.
The Phoenix went up by as many as 12 points in the first half and claimed a 10-point lead, 44-34, at intermission. The maroon and gold shot 59 percent from the field in the first half and limited Campbell to a 30-percent clip on 11-of-37 shooting.
Tonight’s game saw the scored tied a total of 14 times with 13 lead-changes.
The Phoenix jumps back into Southern Conference action on Saturday, Dec. 17, when it heads to Greenville, S.C., to face the Furman Paladins at 2 p.m. Elon then shuffles off to Spartanburg, S.C., to face Wofford on Monday at 2 p.m.