Elon 83, Belmont Abbey 42

ELON, N.C. – Kelsey Harris scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Elon women’s basketball team to an 83-42 exhibition win over Belmont Abbey today, Nov. 4, in Alumni Gym.

Harris, who was one of four Phoenix players in double figures, shot 8-for-10 from the field and pulled down five boards in a winning effort.

Kelsey Evans finished with a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Zora Stephenson tallied 15 points in the win, including a game-high five three-pointers, while Sam Coffer scored 11 points. Ali Ford led the Phoenix with seven assists, as Elon totaled 20 as a team.

Elon connected on nine three-pointers, shooting 64 percent from beyond the arc, and shooting 51 percent from the field as a whole. The maroon and gold scored 40 of its 83 total points in the paint.

On defense, the Phoenix held the Crusaders to 22 percent shooting and allowed only three baskets from three-point land. Elon scored 26 points off 18 turnovers by Belmont Abbey.

The Phoenix finished the game with a 44-34 advantage on the glass with the help of Evans’ 10 rebounds and six from newcomer Jessica Farmer.

Leading by 12 with 14:29 left in the first half, the Phoenix scored the next 10 straight to extend its advantage to 29-7. The run was capped by a basket from Coffer at the 9:55 mark. The maroon and gold took its biggest lead of the half of 24 points with 2:11 remaining after a layup by Autumn Carter made it a 46-22 game.

Elon went into the locker room at halftime with a 53-29 lead, shooting an impressive 69 percent (23-for-33) from the field with Harris and Evans scoring 14 and 13 points, respectively.

The Phoenix outscored the Crusaders 30-13 in the second half with the help of nine points from both Stephenson and Coffer. The second half began with a 20-9 run, which opened up a 37-point advantage for Elon after a three-pointer by Stephenson with 6:54 left in the game. Coffer scored two of her three-balls of the game in the final three minutes to help Elon finish with a 41-point margin of victory.

Elon will open the regular season on Friday, Nov. 9, in Columbia, S.C., versus SEC member South Carolina. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

Furman 77, Converse College 47

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Sarah Durdaller scored 16 points and Brittany Hodges added 14 points and a game high 15 rebounds to lead Furman past Converse, 77-47, in women’s basketball exhibition action Monday evening at Timmons Arena.

Furman opens its 2012-13 season on Friday when it entertains Tusculum at 7:00 p.m.

The Paladins used a pair of baskets by Durdaller and Teshia Griswold to grab an early 8-0 lead and quickly pushed their advantage into double digits on the way to the comfortable victory.

Durdaller’s 16 points, registered on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, came in just 19 minutes of action while Hodges, the SoCon’s reigning freshman of the year, tallied her double-double in a squad high 25 minutes.  All 14 Paladins in uniform saw action.

Samira Gillcrese paced Converse with 12 points and eight rebounds.  Amber Mooney also scored 12 points for the Valkyries, who shot just 13-of-44 from the field (29.5 percent).

Griswold produced 12 of her 13 points in the first half, and Kelsey Ellis rounded out Furman’s double-figure scoring effort with 11 points in just 10 minutes.

Furman forged a 60-40 rebounding advantage and harried Converse into 32 turnovers, which it converted into 32 points.  The Paladins shot just 32.6 percent from the field, connecting on just 28-of-86 shots.

Samford 49, Montevallo 45

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Samford senior guard Jazmine Martin scored 18 points to lead the Bulldog women’s basketball team to a 49-45 exhibition win over Montevallo Monday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.

Martin also had six rebounds to go along with her 18 points. Behind Martin for Samford, fellow senior Hannah Dawson scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds. Junior guard Kendall Schwantz scored seven points, while junior guard Shelby Campbell had five points, six rebounds and seven assists.

For Montevallo, Alexsis Brown led the way with 14 points. Taylor Beverly had eight points, while Zena Nasiloski grabbed 13 rebounds for the Falcons.

Samford raced out to an early 13-2 lead with 14:51 to go in the first half following a three-pointer by Martin. Montevallo fought back and scored the next seven points to cut the Samford lead to four at 13-9 with 13:20 to go in the half after a layup by Nasiloski.

The Bulldogs extended their lead back out to 10 points at 19-9 with 11:45 left in the opening period after a layup by Campbell. Montevallo then went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to two at 19-17 with 7:56 left in the half after a jumper by Beverly.

Samford then scored the next five points to push its lead to seven at 24-17 with 6:15 to go after a pair of free throws by Martin. Montevallo answered again, closing to within one point at 24-23 with 1:37 left in the half after a basket by Shay Bonner. A late layup by Martin gave Samford a 26-23 lead heading into halftime.

In the second half, Samford opened up a six-point lead at 31-25 with 17:39 left in the game after a three-point play by Martin. With Samford leading 38-33, Montevallo scored six of the next eight points to close to within one point at 40-39 with 7:54 left after a basket by Brown.

Samford answered with a 9-0 run to take a 10-point lead at 49-39 with 57 seconds to go after a three-pointer by Taylor Reece. Montevallo scored the last six points of the game to make the final score 49-45.

As a team, Samford shot 32.1 percent overall and 25.0 percent from three-point range. Montevallo shot 37.3 percent overall and 27.3 percent from beyond the arc. Samford forced the Falcons into 21 turnovers, while committing 15 turnovers.

Samford will open the regular season on Sunday, Nov. 11, when the Bulldogs play at Florida State. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 1 p.m. (CT) from Tallahassee, Fla.