STATESBORO, Ga. – A 17-0 second-half run and a career night from Aiesha Harper lifted the Elon women’s basketball team to a key Southern Conference road win on Saturday, Feb. 18, as the Phoenix defeated the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles, 83-53, inside Hanner Fieldhouse.
Elon evens its record to 13-13 overall and 9-8 in conference play with the win – its largest margin of victory over a SoCon opponent since joining the league. The win marks the Phoenix’s first at Georgia Southern since Jan. 12, 2004.
“Before the game we talked about execution, staying together and having fun, and I think we did that tonight,” said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. “We started the game out on a good foot and I thought our starters did a great job of coming out and setting the tone from the get-go. We were relentless on both ends of the floor tonight and did a great job of making [Georgia Southern] uncomfortable.”
After going into the locker room at the half with a 10-point lead, the Phoenix broke the game open in the first five minutes of the final frame after going on a 17-0 run to take a 27-point lead.
Elon went up by as many as 36 points in the second half, as the team shot 50 percent from the field for the game, its best shooting percentage against a conference opponent all season.
Harper led the Elon attack, going for a career-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. Harper also went for four boards, four assists and four steals.
Kelsey Evans chipped in 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and six rebounds in the win.
The Phoenix turned the ball over a season-low nine times, while forcing the Lady Eagles into 20 miscues that led to 23 points.
Elon forced an early GSU timeout with 12:52 to play in the first half after Ali Ford found Kelsey Harris near the free throw line for an easy jumper to put the Phoenix ahead, 15-10.
The Phoenix led by as many as 11 in the first half and claimed a 38-28 advantage at intermission. Harper led all scorers with 13 points in the first 20 minutes, as Elon shot 52 percent from the field. The maroon and gold limited the Lady Eagles to 35 percent shooting in the opening frame and forced 10 turnovers leading to nine points.
Elon kept its foot on the gas to open the second half, going on a 17-0 run to go up by as many as 27 points. The Phoenix held the Lady Eagles without a field goal make for the first 5:37 of the second half.
Kallie Hovatter put Elon ahead by 30 points with less than 12 minutes remaining after completing an old-fashioned three-point play to make it a 65-35 game.
Georgia Southern put two in doubles figures, as Meredyth Frye and MiMi DuBose finished with 13 and 12 points respectively.
The Phoenix shuffles off to Charleston, S.C., on Monday night for a 7 p.m. tip at College of Charleston. The game, which is CofC’s Play4Kay event, will be featured on ESPN3.com.