Late Run Sends Elon by Women's Basketball
1/29/2013 2:48:48 AM | Women's Basketball
ELON, N.C. – Ali Ford netted 23 points, and Elon outscored Georgia Southern 17-3 over the last 5:29 of the game to pull away and post a 70-59 Southern Conference women's basketball victory over the Eagles Monday night in Alumni Gymnasium.
MiMi DuBose scored 21 points to lead Georgia Southern (4-15, 3-7 SoCon), and Anna Claire Knight (right) recorded 17 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Alexis Sams tallied eight points and two assists, and Meredyth Frye collected eight points, six rebounds and four assists.
Kelsey Evans added 20 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Phoenix (11-8, 8-2 SoCon), and Kelsey Harris contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds. Shon Redmond scored nine.
With GSU trailing by seven points midway through the second half, DuBose, Knight and Sams made consecutive triples in a 9-2 run that tied the score at 47-47. Later, DuBose got a four-point play as she was fouled making a 3-pointer, and the Eagles took a 56-53 lead with 5:29 remaining.
Ford and Harris took over from there in a 10-0 Phoenix run. Ford hit back-to-back runners, and Harris scored six consecutive points, giving Elon a 63-56 advantage with 2:05 to play.
DuBose hit a triple for the Eagles, trimming the margin to four points, but Evans came right back with a layup. GSU missed on its next two trips down the floor, and trailing by six, was forced to foul inside the last minute. Elon sealed the win by going 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.
"The second half was back and forth, and they were able to get some key rebounds and get going in transition which wore us down a little bit," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "We are certainly getting more confident in who we are as a program, but in order to break through to that next level, we have to be able to take a punch and punch back harder all the way through the game."
Georgia Southern shot 30 percent for the game, but nine of their 17 field goals came from long distance, and the Eagles cashed in on 16 of their 21 free-throw attempts. Elon scored 38 points in the paint and netted 18 second-chance points.
Knight scored four points as Georgia Southern opened the game with a 13-4 run. After Frye made the score 25-16 with a triple from the top of the key midway through the frame, Ford went to work for the Phoenix, scoring seven points in a 14-1 spurt as Elon opened a 30-26 cushion, its first of the contest. Evans added six points during the stretch.
"We were able to get some easy baskets in transition early in the game, but when the transition offense wasn't there, we weren't as fluid in our half-court offense late in the first half, and that allowed them to get back in the game a little too easily," said Vozab.
Knight knocked down a triple from the left corner with five seconds left in the half, and the Eagles trailed 30-29 at the break. Elon had the advantage of seven extra field goal attempts in the period due in part to 11 Eagle turnovers.
The Eagles open a three-game homestand against Davidson Saturday, Feb. 2. The contest against the Wildcats will be a doubleheader with the GSU men's team and tips off at 5 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.
