DURHAM, N.C. – The Elon University women’s basketball team opened its three-game road swing with a 83-54 victory at North Carolina Central on Tuesday evening, Nov. 13, inside McDougald-McLendon Arena.
Box Score (.PDF) • Play-by-Play (.PDF)
Sophomore Emily Maupin posted a career-high 18 points in the contest to lead the Phoenix, who improved to 1-1 on the young season. The sophomore forward was 8-of-11 from the field while grabbing nine rebounds and adding four steals. The Charlottesville, Va., native was one of four players in double figures for the Phoenix, who held the Eagles (0-2) to 36 percent shooting for the game.
Freshman Brie Perpignan had 17 points for the Phoenix in her first collegiate start while junior Lexi Mercer added 14. Ariel Colon posted a double-double for Elon with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
“I’m excited we were able to get the win tonight,” said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. “We got a lot of great contributions from our younger players. I felt like Brie played a really good game at the point tonight and Emily was a force inside. That’s been the beauty of our team over the last two years is that we’ve had a balanced attack and I felt like we had that tonight.”
London Thompson and Zaria Atkins led the Eagles with 10 points each.
The Rundown
Elon trailed NCCU, 15-11, after the opening period as the Eagles held the Phoenix to 31 percent (5-of-16) in the first. A three-pointer by Thompson 13 seconds into the second period gave North Carolina Central its largest lead of the game, 18-11, but the Phoenix answered with a 5-0 run to pull itself within two, 18-16 at the 7:10 mark of the second.
A Colon steal and layup with 4:14 left in the half gave the Phoenix the lead at 22-21. NCCU battled to trim the deficit back to one, 24-23, with 3:23 left in the period, but Elon closed out the first half on a 7-0 run to take an eight-point advantage into the break, 31-23.
The Phoenix carried that momentum into the second half, scoring 26 points in both the third and fourth periods. Elon shot 16-of-30 in the second half while expanding its lead over the Eagles. Maupin scored to open the third on a layup to push the Phoenix’s lead to double digits, 33-23, sparking a 11-4 run over the next three-plus minutes.
NCCU cut the Phoenix’s lead back down to single digits, 46-37, with 2:34 left in the third after a jumper by Shontai Totten. Elon however closed out the rest of the period on a 11-3 run to push the lead back to 17, 57-40, before heading to the fourth.
Elon continued its hot shooting in the fourth and pulled away from the Eagles to earn the eventual 83-54 victory.
Up Next
The Phoenix continues its road swing with a return trip back to Durham, N.C., to face No. 20/21 Duke on Sunday, Nov. 18. That game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip-off.