Elon Tops Women's Basketball in Season Finale, Eagles Take on W. Carolina Friday
3/5/2013 2:36:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. – Kelsey Evans scored a career high 31 points, and Elon shot 56 percent from the field to earn a 76-65 Southern Conference women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern in the regular-season finale for both teams Monday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Anna Claire Knight matched her career high with 24 points to go along with nine rebounds to lead Georgia Southern (7-22, 6-14 SoCon). Meredyth Frye scored 16 points, and Danielle Spencer netted 10.
Evans was 14-of-17 from the floor and corralled five rebounds for Elon (17-12, 14-6 SoCon). Ali Ford and Kelsey Harris each scored nine, while Harris contributed seven rebounds and five assists.
Georgia Southern whittled a 14-point Elon cushion down to eight points, following a pair of Spencer free throws with 7:28 to go, and had possession of the ball. But the Eagle offense came up empty, and Evans scored on a layup at the other end for the Phoenix.
After GSU missed on another trip down the floor, Jessica Farmer hit a baseline jumper to push the margin back to 12. The Eagles were unable to get to within single digits for the rest of the contest.
"They did a great job of getting her (Evans) the ball from angles where we had no help defense," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "We tried to show different looks, but they executed well, and by that time, she was really feeling it."
Elon used a 21-7 run, spanning the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, to build a 49-35 lead early in the second frame. Ford sparked the run with a triple, and Evans scored 10 points during the stretch.
For the third straight season, Georgia Southern will face Western Carolina in the first round of the SoCon Tournament in Asheville, N.C. The Eagles and Catamounts tip off at 11:30 a.m., Friday, March 8, in Kimmel Arena.
The teams split the season series with GSU winning 52-50 in Hanner Fieldhouse Jan. 7, and the Catamounts returning the favor with a 63-52 victory in the RAC Feb. 13. The Catamounts are 4-1 all-time against Georgia Southern in the SoCon tourney and have won the last two, including a 61-56 overtime decision in Asheville last year.
Georgia Southern leads the all-time series against Western Carolina, which dates back to 1982, 33-17, but the Catamounts have won five of the last seven games. Six of the last eight meetings have been decided by six points or less and two have gone into overtime.
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.
