Strong First Half Sends Elon Past Women’s Basketball

Monday, January 13

Statesboro, Ga.

7 p.m.

Georgia Southern University

5-12, 3-3SoCon

Elon

6-10, 2-3SoCon

Elon

Georgia Southern

Danielle Spencer tallied seven points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Photo by: Frank Fortune - Georgia Southern Athletics

1/13/2014 10:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Marc Gignac

| VIDEO: Postgame interview with Coach Vozab

STATESBORO, Ga. – Kelsey Harris tallied 12 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Elon posted 12 steals and 11 blocked shots as a team as the Phoenix flew past Georgia Southern, 68-49, in a Southern Conference women's basketball contest Monday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Anna Claire Knight led Georgia Southern (5-12, 3-3 SoCon) with 17 points, while Danielle Spencer recorded seven points and a game-high 13 rebounds and Sierra Kirkland corralled 10 rebounds.

Harris was one of four Phoenix players in double-figure scoring. Jessica Farmer posted 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, and Shannen Cochraham scored 10 points. Lauren Brown also scored 10, and Jenifer Rhodes collected eight points, five rebounds and six blocked shots.

The Elon defense blitzed the Eagles in the first half, forcing 15 turnovers, collecting nine steals and blocking eight shots. The Phoenix held Georgia Southern to 23 percent shooting while building a 33-17 halftime cushion.

Elon (6-10, 2-3 SoCon) jumped out to a 10-5 lead and pushed the margin to 20-8 on a Sam Coffer layup with 8:33 left in the half. An 11-3 spurt helped the Phoenix extend the lead to 18 points on a Harris free throw with 3:59 to go.

"We were flat with our intensity on defense early, and we let that struggle on defense affect us on the offensive end," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "They did a good job defensively, but we made a lot of unforced errors that allowed them to gain confidence and momentum and increase their pressure."

The Eagles took care of the ball better in the second half but still could not get the shots to drop early, and the margin stayed in the 15-20-point range. Trailing by 20 points, Georgia Southern made a late run as Knight scored six points in a 12-3 spurt that made the score 57-46 on a MiMi DuBose baseline jumper with 3:22 to play.

Cochraham scored a conventional 3-point play on Elon's next trip down the floor, and after a GSU turnover, Farmer added a fast-break layup. The lead never fell below 15 points the rest of the way.

"We aren't generally a full-court pressure team so it's not something we work on every day," said Vozab. "It helped us make that run, but Elon did a good job over time of finding some gaps in it and continuing to attack. We stepped up our defensive intensity in the second half, but unfortunately, we had dug ourselves in too much of a hole."

The Eagles cap a three-game homestand against Davidson Saturday, Jan. 18, at 5 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse. It's Georgia Southern Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night and B Average or Better Report Card Night. GSU faculty and staff receive free admission with their families getting a group rate, and all students with a B average or better on their report card get in free.

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 "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.