Brown Leads Elon Phoenix WBB Past Tribe

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Off the hot hand of Lauren Brown, the Elon women’s basketball team claimed a 72-59 win at William & Mary tonight, Jan. 9, in Kaplan Arena. The Phoenix saw a career-high 18 points from Brown who hit another career-high four baskets from three to lead Elon to the 13-point victory.

“I’m pleased with the offensive performance tonight,” said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. “We focused on narrowing our offensive arsenal today against the zone. I felt like they did a good job of being focused offensively and getting it done. We talked about ball movement going into the game and I thought we did well against the zone when there were overloads for us offensively.”

The Phoenix (9-5, 2-1 CAA) went 25-of-53 to shoot 47 percent from the field, including 39 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-18), and held the advantage on the boards, 43-33. Elon scored 20 points off turnovers and saw 32 points from its bench. The maroon and gold held W&M’s leading scorer, Marlena Tremba, to only three points and zero field goals.

The Tribe (6-8, 0-3 CAA) finished with a 35 percent mark from the field (20-of-58) and was held to a 17 percent clip from three (3-of-17). W&M was led by 12 points from Alexandra Masaquel, while Abby Rendle recorded eight rebounds.

Brown went 6-of-10 on the night (4-of-7 from three) and hit 2-for-2 from the line. Jenifer Rhodes posted her first double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Two other players joined Brown and Rhodes in double figures with 13 points from Malaya Johnson and 12 points and six assists from Essence Baucom.

With the Phoenix leading 11-8, back-to-back triples by Brown extended the maroon and gold advantage to nine, 17-8, with 13:09 on the clock. The Tribe managed to pull within three, 19-16, and hold Elon without a basket for almost six minutes until a jumper by Shannen Cochraham moved the Phoenix back out to a five-point lead, 21-16.

Another basket from long distance by Brown with 5:29 remaining capped a 7-0 run to move the maroon and gold ahead by 10, 26-16, and forced a W&M timeout. A Baucom layup at the 1:16 mark gave Elon its biggest lead of the half, 36-22, before the Phoenix went into the break up by 13, 38-25.

Elon shot 47 percent in the opening half, including 50 percent from three with the help of four baskets from beyond the arc by Brown. The Phoenix held the advantage on the boards, 23-16, and held a 72 percent mark from the charity stripe. The Tribe was held to a 33 percent clip from the field without any baskets from long distance (0-of-8).

Out of the break, the Tribe scored the first four points of the second half to cut its deficit to nine, 38-29, before Baucom hit a three to make it a 12-point game with 17:52 on the clock. After W&M’s Kyla Kerstetter hit the team’s first three of the game, the Tribe managed to pull within six of the Phoenix, 47-41, with 11:20 remaining.

The maroon and gold answered with a 16-2 run over a 4:26 span to lead by 20, 63-43. Elon led by as much as 21, 67-46, before W&M was able to make it a 10-point game, 69-59, with less than a minute remaining. The Tribe was forced to foul and send Baucom to the line as the sophomore converted 3-of-4 attempts to close out the game.

Elon closes out its stretch of four games in eight days when it hosts College of Charleston on Sunday, Jan. 11, at 2 p.m. in Alumni Gym.