Elon Women’s Basketball Closes Out Home Stand with Mount Olive Sunday

ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s basketball team (4-6) will close out a four-game home stand with a match-up against Mount Olive (6-3) on Sunday, Dec. 22, in Alumni Gym. Tip is set for 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for all youth 12 and under.

Elon vs. Mount Olive
Date: Sunday, Dec. 22
Time: 2 p.m.
Site: Elon, N.C. (Alumni Gym)
Series: Elon leads, 6-2
Last Meeting: Feb. 14, 1994 – Mount Olive won, 90-78

Last Time Out
Back-to-back threes by Zora Stephenson in the span of 40 seconds with just over three minutes left in the game helped lift Elon to a 56-49 victory over Campbell on Friday. The Phoenix trailed by four before the triples by Stephenson and the staunch defense closed out the seven-point win in the final minutes. Stephenson scored a team-high 15 points, while rookie Jenifer Rhodes tied a career-high seven field goals for 14 points.

Scouting the Trojans
Mount Olive is the owner of a 6-3 record so far this season after an 89-43 win over Bluefield State on Tuesday. Katie Paschal, who averages 16.7 points per game, scored a career-high 35 points in that game, which is the third highest single-game performance in the program’s history. The Trojans have four other players scoring in double figures – Joneiqua Gray (17.7), Andrea Jones (12.7), Kirksten Mitchell (10.5) and Jasmine McDonald (10.1), who also averages 10.2 rebounds a game. Mount Olive is a member of Conference Carolinas along with Pfeiffer, who Elon defeated 83-38 in an exhibition to start the season. The Trojans beat Pfeiffer, 59-36, earlier this month.

The Series
Elon and Mount Olive met on the hardwood eight times from 1985-1994 but have not played one another in almost 20 years. The Phoenix owns the all-times series, 6-2, but Mount Olive took a 90-78 victory in Alumni Gym in the last game on Valentine’s Day 1994.

Block Party
Elon’s 10 team blocks against Campbell on Dec. 20 was a season high for the Phoenix. Five of those blocks came from Sam Coffer who marked a new career high and left her just two short of tying an Elon single-game record. After that game, the junior moved in to seventh on Elon’s all-time career high list with 68 blocked shots.

Stop, Thief!
The Elon defense posted a season-high 14 steals against Campbell on Dec. 20 and forced 25 total turnovers. Six Elon players recorded steals, including a career-high seven steals by Kelsey Harris.

Looking Ahead
The Phoenix will take a break from action for a week to enjoy the holiday before getting back to the grind. Elon will play at Big 12 opponent West Virginia on Sunday, Dec. 29, at 2 p.m. in Morgantown, W.Va.