Despite a 13-point first half, the Elon University women’s basketball team defeated Stony Brook in comeback fashion 60-48 thanks to an offensive eruption in the second half.
The first half showcased a pitiful shooting performance from the Phoenix. Elon finished the first half 16% from the field and 0-9 from beyond the 3-point line, along with 10 turnovers.
Elon began the game with aggressive defense and allowed Stony Brook little space to take shots. They also employed a two-man press by junior Laila Anderson and redshirt sophomore Raven Preston. Stony Brook started the game off failing to find the basket due to this tough defense by Elon. The Seawolves began the night missing their first nine shots, including seven missed shots from Zaida Gonzalez.
However, Elon also struggled to shoot, going on a seven-minute scoring drought that saw 10 straight missed shots and 3 turnovers. Thanks to this and worn-down Elon defense, Stony Brook broke through and took the lead.
Despite both teams shooting under 20% from the field at the end of the first quarter, it was Stony Brook whose offense woke up in the second quarter. They scored on their first possession of the quarter, a sign of things to come. The Seawolves more than doubled their first quarter field goal percentage by shooting almost 43% in the second quarter.
A 5-point run by freshman Jayda Angel got the offense going for a short bit, but it wouldn’t last as Elon went on another lengthy scoring drought to close out the half. Throughout this display of poor shooting, Stony Brook’s offense continued to get going as they went on a 8-0 run to go up by 10 at halftime.
Head coach Charlotte Smith said the team’s first half performance was due to a lack of organization offensively.
“We got three people running on top of each other,” Smith said. “It makes it easy for the defense to defend you when three people are in a cluster. So you got to have good space and transition offense.”
It was an ugly showing all around for the Phoenix, a team that averages almost 62 points per game. They went into the half needing some sort of offensive spark to have any chance of coming back.
That spark would go in the form of senior Iycez “Ice” Adams who found her groove in the second half.
It was apparent that this quarter was different when redshirt junior Kamryn Doty knocked down Elon’s first three pointer of the game that sparked life in Schar Center. The 3-pointer was immediately followed by a steal by Anderson who proceeded to secure a transition layup. The Phoenix roared back and recaptured the lead at 36-34, shooting 64.3% from the field in the third quarter and doubled their first half output in just a single quarter. Adams led the effort with 11 points in the quarter and Anderson, Doty and Preston all contributed.
Smith said at halftime, the team decided to focus less on the offense and more on the defense. As a result, the team got more organized and ran their plays better, according to Smith.
“We just talked about getting good spacing in our transition offense, how we were running on top of each other,” Smith said. “Tried to create some easy opportunities off of our defense, and I felt like we were very good on the ball defensively and getting deflections, we took charges.”
The third quarter barrage was not only fun for the players knocking down the shots, but also for Smith who was able to sit back and admire the offensive output.
“It makes my job easy,” Smith said. “I can just sit over there and clap when they're doing their job and doing the things that we taught them in practice. It makes my job easy and it's fun. I like to be able to just sit back and watch.”
The Phoenix came out of the gates fast in the fourth quarter, continuing what they had started in the third. A 3-pointer by Anderson got the crowd into a frenzy as Elon pushed its lead to 8. Yet another Anderson steal followed by a transition layup gave the Phoenix a 12 point lead. Throughout this comeback, Stony Brook shot well, but not enough to keep up with Elon’s second half 61% field goal percentage. Stony Brook had turnover issues, though. In a span of 90 seconds midway through the final quarter, the Seawolves had 4 turnovers.
Adams, who went into this game top 10 in the Coastal Athletic Association in total blocks, continued to dominate and finished with 17 points. Despite being a six-foot-tall forward, she didn’t find her groove in the paint but from her jumper just near the top of the arc. She also had 8 rebounds. Adams said a lot of her success stemmed from placement and the offense working the ball up to her in the high post of the court.
“A lot of our players push the five at the high post, and that was a big emphasis for the past couple practices, just getting that ball into that high post,” Adams said.
Preston and Anderson also both found double digits.
As the final seconds of the clock ticked away, the Schar Center crowd gave the team a standing ovation in recognition of the incredible turnaround in the second half.
Adams said the crowd’s support during the comeback was a huge motivational factor.
“When we go on runs and hear the crowd in the background, it just keeps you motivated to go harder because you're like, ‘I want to do that again, I want to feel that again,’” Adams said. “I feel like everyone bought into that, and it really was a big help to have support today.”
Elon plays next at 1 p.m. Jan. 19 at Schar Center against Hofstra University.