“We’re going to win this game."
The Elon University women’s basketball team held a firm belief all night long that it was destined to defeat the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Lady Mocs, a team that came into Monday’s game with seven more wins on the season and a 17-2 advantage in the all-time series.
Behind senior leaders, guard Ali Ford and forward Kelsey Evans, the Phoenix did just that, claiming a 70-60 overtime triumph Monday night in Alumni Gym.
Evans had a double-double on the night, scoring 19 points and snaring 21 rebounds. Ford added 21 points of her own en route to the victory, one that head coach Charlotte Smith called a “huge win for the program”.
“We just came out tonight really focused on the game plan," Smith said. "We just did a lot of intangible things that just carried us through the win and the overtime. Defense and rebounding, those are the two things you can’t control, and we dominated them."
Chattanooga, a team which was undefeated in the Southern Conference and had victories over the University of Tennessee and the University of Alabama to their credit this season, was the much better team on paper. Elon was determined, however, and kept the game within six points the whole way despite not leading since the score was 26-25 in the first half.
With less than five minutes to play and the Lady Mocs leading 55-49, a switch seemed to flip.
Ford, heavily guarded by Chattanooga junior forward Ashlen Dewart who stood a foot taller than the Elon point guard, was in trouble with the shot clock winding down.
She was able to get off a clutch pass to her teammate Evans, who laid the ball in to cut the deficit to four and the comeback was on.
“The big girl helped on me. Kelsey had a smaller person on her, so I could see all of her seven-foot-five wingspan, so it was an easy left handed pass and an easy left-handed layup,” said Ford, who called the victory the biggest of her Elon career.
Elon was not done there. Still down four, the Phoenix forced a stop and hustled down the court. Ford attempted a few pump fakes to fool the Lady Moc defense, and with the help of off-ball movement, sophomore guard Zora Stephenson was open for a three-pointer that trimmed the lead to one point with a minute and a half to play. Though those were the only points Stephenson scored all night, they propelled her team back into a one-possession game.
After an empty possession for the Lady Mocs, an Evans layup knotted the score at 56. Dewart immediately answered for Chattanooga to put the score at 58-56.
Elon got the ball back with 18.8 seconds to play in the game, down by two. Evans snared an offensive rebound off of a miss by sophomore forward Sam Coffer.
“When I got that rebound, I was just thinking, lay it in," Evans said.
That she did, tying the game at 58 and sending Alumni Gym into a frenzy.
The senior forward from Raleigh was not done yet. Chattanooga, still with time on the clock, gave the ball to senior guard Kylie Lambert in hopes of a game winning rebound. It was simply not to be.
“When [Lambert] drove the baseline, I came up and helped and blocked it,” said Evans, who admits she was “really excited” and could barely remember the frantic finish.
Once the extra session began, Elon burst out to a 63-58 lead on five free throws, four from Evans and one from junior guard Kelsey Harris. Evans’ shots all came off of missed three point shots by Ford.
In addition to the success on the offensive boards, Elon did not allow Chattanooga to obtain an offensive rebound of their own for the entire extra session.
“Even though we weren’t scoring every time, they weren’t scoring at all,” Ford said.
Elon closed the game with its largest lead, a ten-point advantage of 70-60 that will go into the books as one of the greatest triumphs in recent years for the program.
Harris added 14 points for the Phoenix, who also got seven from Coffer. Chattanooga was led by Dewart’s 20 points, along with 15 from senior guard Kayla Christopher.
“Our apartment is going to be happy tonight, but back to work tomorrow," Ford said.
The Phoenix faces Wofford University at 6 p.m. on Jan. 9 in its third conference game.