ELON, N.C. – Kelsey Harris scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Elon women’s basketball team to an 83-42 exhibition win over Belmont Abbey today, Nov. 4, in Alumni Gym.
Harris, who was one of four Phoenix players in double figures, shot 8-for-10 from the field and pulled down five boards in a winning effort.
“We shot the ball well today and I thought we did a good job of sharing the basketball and creating scoring opportunities for each other,” said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. “We want to play up-tempo, push it, run and get easy scoring opportunities. We also want to create havoc on defense and get the ball back and run again. I thought we did a good job of pushing the tempo today and we also did a good job of playing the game inside out.”
Kelsey Evans finished with a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Zora Stephenson tallied 15 points in the win, including a game-high five three-pointers, while Sam Coffer scored 11 points. Ali Ford led the Phoenix with seven assists, as Elon totaled 20 as a team.
Elon connected on nine three-pointers, shooting 64 percent from beyond the arc, and shooting 51 percent from the field as a whole. The maroon and gold scored 40 of its 83 total points in the paint.
On defense, the Phoenix held the Crusaders to 22 percent shooting and allowed only three baskets from three-point land. Elon scored 26 points off 18 turnovers by Belmont Abbey.
The Phoenix finished the game with a 44-34 advantage on the glass with the help of Evans’ 10 rebounds and six from newcomer Jessica Farmer.
Leading by 12 with 14:29 left in the first half, the Phoenix scored the next 10 straight to extend its advantage to 29-7. The run was capped by a basket from Coffer at the 9:55 mark. The maroon and gold took its biggest lead of the half of 24 points with 2:11 remaining after a layup by Autumn Carter made it a 46-22 game.
Elon went into the locker room at halftime with a 53-29 lead, shooting an impressive 69 percent (23-for-33) from the field with Harris and Evans scoring 14 and 13 points, respectively.
The Phoenix outscored the Crusaders 30-13 in the second half with the help of nine points from both Stephenson and Coffer. The second half began with a 20-9 run, which opened up a 37-point advantage for Elon after a three-pointer by Stephenson with 6:54 left in the game. Coffer scored two of her three-balls of the game in the final three minutes to help Elon finish with a 41-point margin of victory.
Elon will open the regular season on Friday, Nov. 9, in Columbia, S.C., versus SEC member South Carolina. Tip is set for 7 p.m.