Elon 82, Wofford 59ELON, N.C. – Kelsey Harris became the 20th player in Elon women’s basketball history to reach 1,000-career points as she reached that mark today, Feb. 22, in an 82-59 win over Wofford in Alumni Gym on Senior Day. The victory also marked the sixth straight home win for the Phoenix.
Harris led the Phoenix (13-13, 9-6 SoCon) with 18 points off seven field goals. The senior was 12 points shy of the mark entering the game and reached 1,000 with a free throw in the second half.
Lauren Brown and Sam Coffer both posted 13 points in the game for the Phoenix. Jenifer Rhodes fell just short of a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds, but also added three blocks.
Elon finished 31-of-65 from the field, with 40 points coming in the paint, to shoot 48 percent and went 42 percent from beyond the arc off five threes. The Phoenix had its second-best free throw output of the season with an 83 percent mark after going 15-of-18 from the line. The maroon and gold won the battle on the boards, 42-34, and also tallied seven blocks.
Wofford (15-20, 3-12 SoCon) was held to a 30 percent mark from the field after a 17-of-56 performance. The Terriers finished with a 32 percent clip from long distance, making 8-of-25 threes. Jordan Frazier scored a game and team-high 18 points for the Terriers, while Ashton Fleming had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
With Elon leading by three, 15-12, a layup by Rhodes began a run of seven straight for the Phoenix to extend its advantage to 10, 22-12, halfway through the opening frame. The maroon and gold went up by as much as 14 points, 34-20, with less than five minutes remaining before the Terriers used an 11-0 run to cuts its deficit to one, 34-33, with three minutes left. Five points by Lenaira Ruffin in the final two and a half minutes, including a three with 22 ticks left, put Elon back up by five, 39-34, at the break.
Elon shot 43 percent in the first 20, while Wofford held a 36 percent mark. The Terriers held the slight edge on the boards, 18-17, and had nine second-chance points.
Wofford pulled back within one, 43-42, at the 17:12 mark in the second half, but Elon responded with the next 14 points to make it a 57-42 game after a layup by Rhodes. The Phoenix never looked back, leading by no less than 15 points for the rest of the game. Free throws in the final minute by Brown gave Elon its final 23-point advantage.
Georgia Southern 74, Appalachian State 72 STATESBORO, Ga. – Angel McGowan scored 18 points, hit the go-ahead basket and made two big free throws down the stretch to lead Georgia Southern to a 74-72 Southern Conference women’s basketball victory over Appalachian State on Senior Day Saturday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Eagles (9-17, 7-8) led by nine points following a triple from the wing by Anna Claire Knight with 3:48 to go. The Mountaineers (11-15, 8-8) stormed back as Katie Mallow scored eight points, including consecutive 3-pointers that capped a 10-0 run and gave App a 68-67 lead with 1:45 remaining.
McGowan drove the lane for a layup on the Eagles’ ensuing trip down the floor, and Danielle Spencer blocked a Bria Huffman shot on App’s next possession. Knight hit 1-of-2 from the line for GSU, and McGowan rebounded a Maryah Sydnor miss and was fouled with 27 seconds left.
The freshman calmly swished both free throws for a four-point Eagle lead, and the Eagles got another defensive stop. Knight sank two more from the charity stripe to put GSU ahead by six with 17 seconds left.
The Mountaineers were not done as Sydnor made a layup and Knight was fouled again. The junior hit 1-of-2 from the line, and Huffman hit a running triple to trim the lead to two with four seconds left. After a Mountaineer timeout, App got a turnover from its full-court press and had the ball in the corner with three seconds to play.
The Mountaineers inbounded to Huffman and the sophomore’s triple was long and came off the front of the rim. Eagle center Briana Jones secured the rebound as time expired.
Knight finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and McGowan added four steals. MiMi DuBose collected 11 points, three assists and three steals and Lacie Dowling scored 10. Spencer added seven points, six boards and two blocked shots.
KeKe Cooper led Appalachian State with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Sydnor finished with 12 points and 10 boards. Mallow and Huffman each tallied 16 points and four assists.
It was Senior Day and Georgia Southern honored its seniors – Brittney Benzio, Jordi Cook, Dowling, DuBose and Spencer – prior to the game.
The Eagles trailed by six late in the first half following a Sydnor layup, but DuBose netted five points as GSU capped the frame with a 6-2 run and trailed 32-31 at the break. Georgia Southern took its first lead of the game on a McGowan layup 5:12 into the second stanza and never relinquished it. The Eagles used a 7-2 run to turn a four-point cushion into a 66-57 advantage on Knight’s 3-pointer and held on from there.
It was also Pack the House in Pink, an event to raise funds and awareness to support the fight against breast cancer, and a group of breast cancer survivors were honored at halftime. Proceeds will go to the Statesboro Bulloch County Breast Cancer Foundation.
Furman 77, UNCG 64GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Holli Wilkins scored 21 points and Furman used a late surge to finish off UNCG, 77-64, in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Fleming Gymnasium.
With the win Furman (15-11, 9-6 SoCon), a preseason No. 6 pick in a poll of SoCon coaches, remained in a third place tie in the league standings with Elon heading into Monday’s 7:00 p.m. matchup with the Phoenix in Elon. The triumph over UNCG gave the Paladins the season sweep of the Spartans and also guaranteed Furman its first .500 or better season since the 2004-05 campaign.
Wilkins, a sophomore forward from Atlanta, Ga., connected 9-of-19 shots, including a 3-pointer, and 2-of-4 free throws for her game high 21 points. Three other Paladins tallied in double figures, including Whitney Bunn with 13 points, Allison Beasley with 12 points, and Sarah Durdaller with 10.
Lucy Mason paced UNCG (6-20, 2-13 SoCon) with 16 points.
Furman led 63-60 with five 5:10 to go before putting together an 8-0 run over the next four minutes to take control. A 3-pointer and two free throws by Bunn at the 1:23 mark capped the spurt that put the game out of reach for the Spartans.
The Paladins trailed only once in the contest, in the first minute of play, but quickly grabbed the lead on the way to a 37-28 advantage despite early foul trouble for forward Brittany Hodges, who registered just two points in only seven minutes of action in the first half.
A three-point play by Wilkins a little over a minute into the second half put Furman up, 42-31, but it didn’t last long as the Spartans answered with 12-2 run, keyed by a Mason 3-pointer and three-point play that cut the Paladins’ lead to 44-43 at the 15:16 mark.
A Beasley 3-pointer two minutes later gave Furman a 51-45 lead and helped keep the Spartans in check. UNCG twice sliced the Paladins’ advantage to three points, at 60-57 and again at 63-60 following a Mason free throw with 5:10 to go, before Furman’s decisive 8-0 run sealed the game’s outcome.
The Paladins converted 26-of-66 shots from the field (39.4 percent) and drained 20-of-24 free throws (83.3 percent) while also posting a 50-43 rebounding advantage. Also aiding the win was improved ballhandling as Furman suffered only 10 turnovers — the second lowest miscue total of the season for the Paladins.
Davidson 83, Western Carolina 73DAVIDSON, N.C. – In addition to Laura Murray leading four Davidson players in double figures with a game-high 26 points, the Wildcats shot 66.7 percent in the second half to defeat Western Carolina, 83-73, in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena.
Murray, one of two seniors honored prior to the contest, finished 10-of-16 from the floor and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. The 26-point outing tied her season-high and was her 14th game of scoring 20 or more points this year.
Dakota Dukes (18), Hannah Early (16) and Shannon Eriksson (13) also hit the 10-point plateau for Davidson (13-13, 10-5 SoCon), which finished the contest shooting a season-best 58.5 percent (31-53) overall and 15-of-18 from the line.
Clinging to a two-point lead midway through the second half, the Wildcats put the game out of reach with a 13-4 run capped off by an Eriksson three-point play, which gave her club their largest lead of the contest, 74-63,with 3:40 remaining.
Erika Joseph paced Western Carolina (12-15, 6-10 SoCon) with 17 points on 7-of-10 from the floor, while Lindsay Simpson and Rena Wakama added 16 and 13, respectively.
After falling behind early, Davidson used a 17-5 run, highlighted by eight of Murray’s 14 first-half points to go up 17-10 at the 12:52 mark. Despite shooting just 38.2 percent in the period, the Catamounts closed the half on a small run of their own to cut the deficit to 33-31 at the break.
The Wildcats held a 32-31 edge on the glass, while Early handed out seven of Davidson’s 20 assists on 31 field goals. The Wildcats also scored 44 of their 83 points in the paint
UNCG shot 32.8 percent from the field, making good on 22-of-67 field goal attempts.