The Phoenix saw career highs in both points and field goals from Autumn Carter and Kelsey Harris. Carter went 9-of-14 from field-goal range and 7-of-10 from the charity stripe to score a game-high 25 points. Senior leader Harris also went 9-of-14 from the field for 22 points, 16 of which came in the second half, and handed out five assists. Both players finished one board shy of a double-double with nine rebounds.

As a team, Elon shot a season-high 56 percent from the field after a 31-of-55 performance, including 5-of-12 from three-point distance (42 percent). Mount Olive finished 24-of-57 for a 42 percent mark from the field and hit seven of the 23 three attempts taken (30 percent). The Phoenix won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding the Trojans, 35-28.

Two other players scored in double figures for Elon as Zora Stephenson finished with 12 points and Lenaira Ruffin with 10.

The Trojans grabbed as much as an eight-point lead, 20-12, in the first six minutes of the first half. From there, the Phoenix put together a 13-5 run to tie the game at 25-all, which was capped by a three by Ruffin and two free throws off a one-and-one opportunity by Lauren Brown with 6:22 remaining in the half. Elon took a 27-25 edge after Ruffin turned an offensive board into a jumper. Four straight points in less than 30 seconds by Carter gave the maroon and gold a 40-32 advantage with under a minute to play. The Trojans hit two free throws to cut its deficit to six, 40-34, at the break.

Elon hit 15-of-28 shots in the first half to shoot 54 percent, including 40 percent from long distance, while Mount Olive went 11-of-29 for a 38 percent mark. Both squads hit over 70 percent of its free throw opportunities and hauled down 17 boards.

The Phoenix opened the second frame on a 5-0 run after a basket by Carter and a three by Stephenson for a nine-point lead, 45-34. A long-range jumper by Carter and Jenifer Rhodes’layup Rhodes helped Elon to its largest lead of the game thus far, 52-39, at the 15:23 mark.

An 8-2 run by Mount Olive would cut Elon’s advantage to just four, 61-57, but Elon answered to take a 12-point lead, 72-60, after back-to-back steals for the Phoenix on Trojan offensive possessions turned into baskets for Elon with 6:10 to play.

The maroon and gold’s biggest advantage came with just under three minutes remaining in the game after a Harris finished off an old-fashioned three-point play to make it an 81-60 game.

The Blue and Gold put up 67 shots but hit just 19 of them to finish at 28.4 percent from the field. The Bonnies also made just 19 shots and ended up at 33.9 percent from the field after taking 56 attempts. St. Bonaventure won the rebounding battle 49-42 as the teams combined for 37 offensive boards. The Bonnies were 18-of-24 from the charity stripe for 75 percent while the Spartans were awarded just seven free throw attempts – hitting four.

Sophomore guard Lucy Mason went for a season-high 21 points on 9-for-17 shooting and knocked down three shots from beyond the arc. Classmate and guard Jazmine Missouri netted 10 points for the second time this year. Hannah Little paced three SBU players in double figures with 21 points. Missouri and freshman forward India Timpton led UNCG with six rebounds each.

A jumper by Katie Healey opened the scoring at the 17:27 mark before Mason responded with a jumper of her own. The Spartans would eventually push ahead 10-6 after a triple by Mason with 13:20 on the clock. UNCG was able to keep the Bonnies at bay and extended the advantage to 15-8 when Timpton knocked down a free throw with 9:50 to play in the half.

A layup by Missouri afforded the Blue and Gold their largest lead of the contest, 22-14, at the 5:22 mark when she dropped in a layup, but SBU began to chip away. With UNCG leading 24-18 with 4:10 left in the stanza, the Bonnies netted eight-straight points to retake the lead. The Spartans would score just four more points in the half as St. Bonaventure took a 32-28 edge into the break.

Mason scored 14 points in the first 20 minutes while Missouri and Timpton picked up four rebounds each. UNCG hit 12 of 36 shots from the field (33.3 percent). The Bonnies were a bit better – draining 10 of 28 attempts for 35.7 percent. The Spartans held the edge on the glass 24-21.

SBU came out firing in the second half, quickly building an eight-point advantage after a layup by Little made it 36-28 with 19:03 remaining. UNCG punched right back, as Mason rattled off seven-straight points to pull the Spartans within one. The Blue and Gold went ice cold from there, however, failing to score for the next seven minutes. By that time, the Bonnies built an insurmountable 47-35 lead and UNCG could only come within seven the rest of the way.