All eyes are on junior Hannah Dereje as she shoots the ball with mere seconds on the clock. As the buzzer goes off the ball lands in the middle of the net and the crowd goes wild. A 1000-watt smile grows on Dereje’s face as players circle her with cheers. This was the tone Elon set in the first quarter going against Campell on Feb. 16.
Campbell had a slight advantage over Elon, coming off of a four-game winning streak, its most recent game against North Carolina A&T who is ranked first in the conference. A team known for its defense, Campbell brought angst to the game, but it underestimated the ability for the Phoenix to bring that same fire.
Elon had a total of 10 steals and three blocks, the most steals since its game against William and Mary on Jan. 31. Even though Elon’s field goal percentage matched Campbell at 35%, Campbell secured the most points in the paint at 34 compared to Elon’s 20 points. In addition, Campbell had more rebounds than Elon with 43 in total compared to the Phoenix’s 28. However, the Phoenix had a higher three-point percentage at 38% compared to Campbell’s 8%, still Elon lost due to poor shooting in a eight and a half minute drought within the fourth quarter 48-45.
Jayda Angel carried the team on her back, scoring 20 points, the only player on the team to score double digits. Head coach Charlotte Smith said Angel is the clutch player on the team.
The women’s basketball team had one mindset that carried off the court: to fight. With their pink sneakers on, the women’s basketball game was also the team’s annual Play4Kay game. Play4Kay is a grassroots movement to unite sports with the community to raise awareness about those battling cancer. For Smith, this game meant something special for her.
“That's what this game and this day is all about, just celebrating those who are fighting the good fight,” Smith said.
The beginning of the game was riddled with poor shooting on both sides which caused Elon to fall a bit behind at 11-14. However, Elon gave Campbell a run for its money and brought its defense up in the second and third quarters, with victory in sight by the end of the third quarter, the score being 36-34. Redshirt junior Kamryn Doty notably performed well, with two back-to-back 3-pointers and redshirt sophomore Raven Preston with five rebounds and five defensive rebounds in total.
“The mindset was to be disrupted defensively, take them out of their flow, of their offense,” Smith said.
Despite the strong middle move, the team fell apart within the last quarter, something Smith said could be due to exhaustion. The Phoenix played one of its best games of the season two nights before at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, while the Fighting Camels played their last game exactly a week ago.
“Well, the biggest lesson is control, the controls like boxing out that doesn't take skill, that's just hard and hustle, and we didn't have that in us today,” Smith said.
With one second left on the clock, Preston shot a 3-pointer making the score 48-45, with each team calling a 30-second time-out, there could have been the possibility of another 3-pointer to tie the game and go into overtime, but alas the Phoenix will move on to its next game Feb. 21 at Schar Center.