Powell’s Career Night Leads Elon WBB Over Chowan, 88-74

ELON, N.C. – A career night for sophomore Jaylin Powell helped the Elon University women’s basketball team to an 88-74 victory versus Chowan on Wednesday night, Nov. 28, at Schar Center.

Box Score (.PDF)Highlights

Powell scored a career-best 20 points – all in the second half – as the Phoenix (2-3) snapped a two-game losing streak with its victory over the Hawks. Powell also knocked down six treys, going 6-for-10 from behind the three-point line.

Powell was one of three players in double digits for the Phoenix, who also received 15 points from fellow sophomore Emily Maupin and 13 points from freshman Brie Perpignan. Both Maupin and Perpignan were a combined 12-for-14 from the field. As a team, Elon shot 32-of-64 (.500) overall and was 10-of-21 from three-point land. The Phoenix also shot the ball well at the charity stripe going 14-of-17.

Chowan’s duo of Danielle Weldon and Mariah Coker tied Powell for game-high honors with 20 points with Coker going 6-for-9 from behind the arc. Weldon had a game-high eight rebounds as the Hawks shot 29-for-62 (.468) and was 10-for-28 from three.

“I am happy that we were able to pull the win out tonight,” said Phoenix head coach Charlotte Smith. “We have a big stretch coming up with three games in five days and hopefully this was one of those games where we ironed out the kinks because we haven’t played in a while. The most important thing is this team being convinced that we are better together. When we start offensively moving the ball and sharing the ball, we were able to find a rhythm offensively. Our goal is to create shots for each other and when we can buy into that, we are a much better team.”

The Rundown
The Phoenix scored the first five points of the opening quarter, but the rest of the period was a tightly contested affair with seven ties and only two lead changes. A three-pointer by Coker at the 2:08 minute mark gave Chowan the lead at 19-16, but Elon went on a 5-2 run to retake the advantage and headed into the second quarter up 23-21.

A 5-0 run to start the second period helped Elon extend its lead to seven. Freshman Tyja Traore scored all five points for the Phoenix including converting three-point play at the 8:32 mark to put Elon ahead 28-21. After a Chowan three-pointer pulled the Hawks within four, 28-24, Traore drew a foul and knocked down both free throws to put the Phoenix up six, 30-24, with 8:08 left in the quarter. The Phoenix went into a scoring drought over the next three-plus minutes as Chowan cut the deficit to one, 30-29, after a three-pointer with 4:59 left in the half. Elon was able to stave off the rally and break its drought on a 10-5 run to take a 40-34 lead into the break.

In the third quarter, Powell took over for the Phoenix, scoring 14 straight at one point in the period. After Chowan cut the Phoenix’s lead to three, 46-43, with 6:39 in the quarter, Powell started her run with a pair of free throws to put the Phoenix’s lead to five, 48-43. Coker came back for Chowan with a three-pointer to bring the Hawks within two, 48-46, but Powell answered with a three of her own to put the Phoenix back in front by five, 51-46. Chowan brought the game back to a one-score contest, 51-49, on a layup by Weldon, but Powell responded with another three to put Elon ahead again by five, 54-49. Powell’s third three of the period gave the Phoenix a six-point advantage, 57-51, at the 3:45 mark, before the Raleigh, N.C., native added her fourth triple of the quarter to put Elon up nine, 60-51. The Phoenix would take a seven-point lead into the fourth at the end of the third, 62-55.

Elon expanded its lead to double figures in the final period with Chowan never cutting the deficit lower than 10. The Phoenix eventually moved on for an 88-74 victory over the Hawks.

Notes
• The victory was the first-ever for the Phoenix at Schar Center.
• Led by Powell, the Phoenix scored 37 points off the bench compared to five from Chowan.
• Traore had a season-best seven points and led the Phoenix with six rebounds.
• Freshman Kayla Liles and redshirt freshman Ariana Nance made their first career starts for Elon. Liles played 20 minutes and had eight points while Nance had seven points while seeing a team-high 31 minutes.
• This was the first-ever meeting on the hardwood between Elon and Chowan, with the contest counting as an exhibition for the Hawks.

Up Next
Elon hosts Marist on Friday night, Nov. 30, with a 7 p.m. tip-off at Schar Center.