After dropping its first game of 2013 two days ago to Davidson College, the Elon University women's basketball team got back in the win column with a 70-59 victory over the visiting Georgia Southern University Eagles on Monday night, Jan. 28.
With a dominating performance on both ends of the glass, senior Kelsey Evans, junior Kelsey Harris and sophomore Sam Coffer each finished in double digits in rebounding. Evans finished with 12 rebounds overall, eight on the offensive end while Harris and Coffer each pulled down 11, six and four, respectively, on the offensive end.
Evans also rejected four shots in the game. She now sits at 201 career blocks, which puts her alone at the top of the career blocks list in program history, passing 2004 graduate Courtney Nyborg. She collected 197 through her four years at Elon.
After a slow star and trailing 11-4 at the first media timeout, the Phoenix crawled back into the game but could never pull ahead of the Eagles. Down 25-16 with 7:53 remaining in the first half, Elon head coach Charlotte Smith called timeout and called for more defensive pressure. The Phoenix answered the call, going to the halftime break allowing just four more Georgia Southern points while scoring 14 of their own to take a 30-29 lead into halftime.
The teams traded baskets throughout the second half until the final minutes of the game. The Phoenix, down three at 56-53 with 5:30 to play, went on a run much like the end of the first half. Behind a 17-3 run to close out the game, the Phoenix moved to 11-8 overall and 8-2 in the Southern Conference. The loss sent Georgia Southern back to Statesboro, Ga. with a 4-15 record, 3-7 in the conference.
To go with her 12 rebounds and four blocks, Evans finished with 20 points while senior guard Ali Ford added 23 points for the second consecutive game.
Junior guard MiMi DuBose tallied 21 points in 36 minutes for the Eagles. Sophomore guard Anna Claire Knight scored 17 of her own while pulling down 10 rebounds.
Georgia Southern returns home for a three-game home stand while the Phoenix head off to Boone, N.C. to take on the Appalachian State University Mountaineers on Saturday, Feb. 2. Tip between Elon and Appalachian State is scheduled for 2 p.m.