Hot-Shooting Elon Downs Lady Eagles at Home
2/19/2012 12:46:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Hot shooting and costly turnovers powered the Elon Phoenix past the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles 83-53 at Hanner Fieldhouse on Saturday. The final homestand of the regular season got off on the wrong foot after Aiesha Harper scored a career-high 21 points and helped Elon shoot 50% from the floor. The Phoenix also took advantage of 20 Lady Eagle turnovers and converted them into 23 points.
A scoreless start to the second half put Georgia Southern (7-19, 3-14) in a hole they were unable to dig out of after trailing by 10 in the first half. The Lady Eagles connected on 17-of-51 field goals and drained three treys in 25 attempts. One bright spot for GSU, they shot nearly perfect from the free throw line and went 12-for-13 from the charity stripe. Meredyth Frye (Fredricksburg, Va.) led the team with 13 points, and MiMi DuBose (Jefferson, Ga.) added 11 points in 24 minutes.
Elon (13-13, 9-8) led 38-28 at the halftime break but outscored Georgia Southern 45-25 in the second half. The Phoenix shot over 50% from the floor in the first half and went to the free throw line 13 times in the second half. Kelsey Evans joined Harper in double figures with 14 points and pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
DuBose drained a pair of threes in the first three minutes of the contest, and GSU led 6-3 before Elon outscored them 10-4 over the next three minutes. The Phoenix took a 13-10 lead with 13:47 remaining after the run. Danielle Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) drained a jumper with 10:59 to play to cut Elon's lead to 17-16, however, the Phoenix quickly responded with a 15-5 run. Harper scored six points during the stretch to give the Phoenix their largest lead of the half, 32-12.
Elon opened the second half with 18 unanswered points and held Georgia Southern scoreless for nearly six minutes. Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) snapped the streak with four-straight points, but the Phoenix powered ahead by 34 points with a 14-3 run of nearly four minutes. The Lady Eagles hung with Elon over the next three minutes. They cut the advantage to 33 points on a Lacie Dowling (Nahunta, Ga.) three with 4:19 remaining but were unable to get any closer.
Georgia Southern returns to Hanner Fieldhouse Monday for their final home game of the 2012 regular season and will host UNCG on Senior Day at 7 p.m. The Lady Eagles will honor their two seniors, Janay Wilson and Samantha Williams, prior to the start of that contest.
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