Evans, Harris Lead Elon Women’s Basketball to Win Over Wofford

ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s basketball team survived a tight game against Wofford to claim a 62-58 win tonight, Feb. 20, marking the team’s eighth straight win in Alumni Gym. The Phoenix is now 14-11 (11-5 SoCon), while the Terriers fall to 7-17 (2-14 SoCon).

“I’m excited that we got the win tonight,” said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. “We got off to a slow start and we didn’t take care of the basketball in the first half. I think that took a lot of our momentum. But in the second half, we did a very good job and only had three turnovers. I also felt like we did a better job of executing and going with our game plan of getting the ball inside.”

With Elon trailing with under a minute to play, a defensive rebound by Kelsey Evans got the ball into the hands of Ali Ford who passed off to Kelsey Harris for the go-ahead jumper to give the Phoenix a 59-58 lead.

Evans and Harris made free throws in the final seconds to secure the win for the maroon and gold as the duo combined to score the team’s final 17 points.

Evans finished with a game-high 21 points, along with seven boards and three blocks. Harris scored a new career-high 18 points after going 5-of-9 from the field and 8-for-10 from the charity stripe. The junior also handed out five assists and grabbed two steals. Ford finished the night with 11 points, marking her 100th career game in double figures.

The Phoenix shot 40 percent from the field after making 21-of-52 and went 18-of-26 from the free throw line (69 percent). Wofford finished with a 41 percent shooting mark after going 23-of-56 from the field, but managed only 42 percent from the charity stripe (11-of-26).

With the game tied at 14 with under 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Elon used a 12-4 run to claim its largest lead of the game, 26-18. The Terriers chipped away at the Phoenix advantage and pulled even at 27 with just over two minutes remaining until the break. A jumper by Wofford’s Chanel Stokes with nine ticks on the clock gave the visitors a 31-29 edge at halftime.

In the second half, Wofford took its largest lead of the game, 45-39, at the 13:05 mark. The Terriers held the advantage for the next nine minutes until a layup by Harris with four minutes to go put the Phoenix up 55-54. A jumper by the Terriers’ Morgan Wrightson gave the edge back to Wofford with 1:27 on the clock before Harris and Evans’ clutch play led Elon to the eventually victory.

The Phoenix will travel to Furman on Saturday, Feb. 23, for one of its final road games of the regular season. Tip is set for 2 p.m. in Greenville, S.C.