WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest’s Amber Campbell hit a layup with 2.4 seconds to play Saturday afternoon, Dec. 2, to hand Elon University women’s basketball its second loss of the season, a 53-51 defeat inside LJVM Coliseum.
“We kept fighting,” said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. “I’m proud of the fight from this team. We didn’t give up. We’ll look at the film and get better and we’ll focus on Davidson now on Wednesday.”
With the loss, Elon now stands at 6-2 on the season. Wake Forest snapped a four-game losing skid with the win, improving to 3-5 on the year.
THE RUNDOWN
Trailing by three points with 13.6 seconds to play, Elon drew up a play out of a timeout on the heels of two missed free throws by Wake Forest’s Ona Udoh. With Jada Graves inbounding, Meme Garner came off a screen at the top of the key and knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 51-all.
Following a Wake Forest timeout with 5.8 seconds to play, Campbell took a pass from Ariel Stephenson and drove the lane for a left-handed layup that fell with 2.4 seconds to play. Elon called its final timeout after the bucket, advanced the ball and Graves inbounded to Shay Burnett on the baseline. But with the clock winding, the senior got bumped out of bounds and Wake Forest took over with 1.1 seconds to go to seal the win.
Elon took a three-point, 27-24 lead to the locker room at halftime. After trailing 19-14 after 10 minutes, the Phoenix outscored Wake Forest 13-5 in the second quarter. The run was aided by holding the Demon Deacons scoreless for 8:11 of game action, but Ivana Raca hit a three-pointer with 26 seconds left in the half to end the scoreless stretch and cut Elon’s lead to three.
Though Elon opened the second half with an 8-6 advantage to take a 36-30 lead with 4:53 to play, the Phoenix went cold and Wake Forest went on an 11-0 run to close the quarter. Taking a 41-36 lead to the fourth, the Demon Deacons extended the run to 16-0 for a 46-36 lead with 8:43 to play before Lexi Mercer converted a layup to end Elon’s scoring drought at 6:25. With the Mercer layup, Elon outscored Wake Forest 15-7 in the final 8:28, but the 16-0 run was just enough for the Demon Deacons to hold the Phoenix off.
HIGHLIGHTS
For the second game in a row, Garner had a career high with 17 points on 7-for-11 from the floor. She also had five rebounds in 28 minutes. Burnett was the only other Phoenix in double figures, scoring 10 points to go with eight rebounds and a team-high five assists. Graves had nine points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Campbell was the only Deacon in double figures with 16 points. She also had four rebounds. Udoh had five points to go with a game-high 15 rebounds. No other Demon Deacon had more than five rebounds on the afternoon. Gina Conti finished second on the team with seven points.
NOTES
-With four points, Malaya Johnson passed 900 for her career and is now 99 away from becoming the 24th player in program history to surpass the 1,000-career point mark.
-The Phoenix outrebounded Wake Forest 50-42. Elon has outrebounded each of its opponents to date this year.
-Elon shot 29.6 percent from the floor. The mark is its lowest shooting percentage in a game to date this season.
UP NEXT
The Phoenix will continue its three-game road trip with a 7 p.m. contest at Davidson on Wednesday, Dec. 6. Last time the Phoenix and Wildcats met, Elon earned a 66-63 victory on Feb. 10, 2014, when both teams were members of the Southern Conference.