Elon Women’s Basketball Suffers Loss at Davidson

DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Elon women’s basketball team saw its six-game win streak snapped on Saturday, Jan. 26, at the hands of Davidson in a 77-60 final. The Phoenix suffered its first loss of the 2013 calendar year at Belk Arena, despite a game-high 23 points from Ali Ford and a season-high 16 from Sam Coffer.

“Overall I though we played a good game,” said Phoenix head coach Charlotte Smith. “We played solid for 30 minutes, but for the last 10 we didn’t rebound or defend as well as I would’ve liked. Give credit to Davidson, they are a great team and we will have to be prepared for them next time.”

Elon (10-8, 7-2 Southern Conference) shot 36 percent from the field after making 21-of-58 and was 7-of-18 behind the three-point line at a 39 percent clip. The Wildcats (11-8, 8-1 SoCon) shot nearly 45 percent from the field on 26-of-58 shooting, while matching the Phoenix beyond the arc (7-of-18).

Ford had her seventh 20-point outing of the season and third in her last four games. The senior guard also paced the team with three assists. Coffer contributed with her highest scoring output of the year after shooting 5-of-7 from the field, including a percent 4-of-4 from three-point range. The sophomore forward also added two steals and three rebounds to her stat line.

The Wildcats dominated inside the paint with a 26-18 scoring advantage between the posts. Davidson also scored 18 points off of Elon’s 21 turnovers and 26 points of their bench compared to just six for the Phoenix.

Elon maintained the lead throughout the majority of the first half, with Davidson holding its only lead, 6-4, at the 16:40 mark on a Laura Murray layup. Coffer responded with a layup of her own to tie the score on the next possession followed by another layup by Ford that gave the Phoenix an 8-6 advantage with 16:04 left in the opening period.

The Phoenix would have its largest lead of the first half, 23-17, on Coffer’s second three-pointer at the 8:21 mark. Davidson added a three on the opposite end to cut the deficit to three before Autumn Carter’s jumper pushed Elon’s lead up to five, 25-20, at the 6:30 mark.

The Wildcats would get as close as 32-31 on a Katrin Chiemeka layup with 40 seconds in the opening period, but a Jessica Farmer jumper with 19 ticks on the clock gave the maroon and gold a 34-31 lead going into the half.

In the second half, Elon would push its lead back to six on a Ford three-pointer. Davidson responded with 7-2 run to pull within one again, 39-38, with 12:46 left to play. After Elon’s Kelsey Harris converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Phoenix a 42-38 lead at the 12:39 mark, the Wildcats scored five quick points to take its first lead since the first half, 43-42.

Ford responded with a three to give Elon the lead again, 45-43, followed by two free throws to push the Phoenix’s advantage back to four with 11:11 left to play. The Wildcats went on a 12-3 run to gain a 55-50 lead with 8:24 remaining in the game.

After Elon battled back to tie the score at 55 with 7:38 left to play, Davidson would go-ahead for good at the 6:55 mark after jumper by Hannah Early.

Ford would bring the Phoenix within three with just under five minutes left to play at 60-57, but the maroon and gold would not get any closer as the Wildcats pulled away.

Elon returns home to host Georgia Southern on Monday, Jan. 28. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym.