BOONE, N.C. – A furious second-half comeback fell just short for the Elon women’s basketball team on Monday night, Feb. 13, as the Phoenix suffered an 84-68 setback to Southern Conference leading Appalachian State inside the Holmes Center.
Elon (12-13, 8-8 SoCon) trailed by as many as 24 points in the game, but pulled within nine with 2:36 remaining after going on a 22-10 run over an eight-minute stretch.
But ASU (21-3, 15-1 SoCon) managed to keep the Phoenix at arm’s length late, sinking 7-of-8 free throw attempts down the stretch to secure the win.
“I felt like we competed and fought hard in the second half tonight and showed a lot of tenacity,” said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. “We have to do a better job of executing our press offense. We did a much better job of organizing ourselves in the second half and got the shots we were looking for.
Our bench was focused and gave us a tremendous lift tonight when we were in foul trouble. We talk about fighting for 40 and we need to do a better job at putting two halves together and playing Elon basketball.”
After being outscored by 20 points in the first half, the Phoenix edged out the Mountaineers by four points, 45-41, in the final 20 minutes. In the first meeting this season, ASU outscored Elon by 24 in the opening frame before the Phoenix responded by outscoring the Mountaineers by 10 points in the final 20 minutes.
Sam Coffer finished with 10 points and 10 boards for her first career double-double in the setback.
Kelsey Evans ended the night with 10 points and eight boards, while Ali Ford scored a team-high 11 points.
The Elon bench, which spurred the second-half comeback, outscored its counterparts, 27-25. Kallie Hovatter and Zora Stephenson came up with key shots late, as both finished with eight points. Shannen Cochraham chipped in seven points in just 11 minutes of action.
The Mountaineers began the game on a 15-0 run until a Coffer three-pointer with 14:02 left made it a 15-3 game.
ASU claimed a 43-20 advantage at intermission after turning 15 Elon miscues into 15 points. Foul trouble plagued three of Elon’s starters, as Ford,Aiesha Harper and Kelsey Harris each went into the locker room with three fouls and played limited minutes in the opening frame.
The Mountaineers’ ability to sink their free throws proved to be a difference maker in the first half. ASU went 12-of-15 (80 percent) at the charity stripe while the maroon and gold sunk just 3-of-8 attempts (38 percent).
Stephenson helped the Phoenix pull within 12 points with 8:26 to play after drawing a foul on a three-point attempt and sinking all three shots to make it a 67-55 game.
Stephenson made it a nine-point game with less than three minutes to play after dialing up a three from the corner in front of the Elon bench to make it a 73-64 game and pull the maroon and gold within single digits for the first time since the 17:38 mark in the first half.
But that was as close as Elon would come, as ASU closed the game out late with an 11-4 run over the final 2:36.
ASU put four players in double figures, including a game-high 19 by Maryah Sydnor.
Elon plays its final two road games of the regular season over the next week, beginning with a Feb. 18 contest at Georgia Southern.