Elon Women’s Basketball Falls to Lady Mocs on Road

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Elon women’s basketball team was not able to knock off Southern Conference leader Chattanooga for the second time this season, falling 63-40 today, Feb. 9, in The McKenzie Arena. The Phoenix is now 12-10 on the season (9-4 SoCon), while the Lady Mocs improve to 20-3 (13-1 SoCon).

“We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well tonight,” said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. “So hopefully we’ll bounce back be prepared against Samford. I must commend Kelsey Evans on an outstanding job. I felt like she was solid and brought us great intensity on both ends of the court.”

Evans led all players with 19 points, going 7-of-9 from the field and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe, and came close to a double-double with eight boards. Kelsey Harris finished with eight points, while Ali Ford tallied five assists.

The Phoenix was held to a season low 28 percent shooting clip from the field and was unable to hit from three-point range, going 0-for-12. The Lady Mocs finished 25-of-63 from the field to shoot 39 percent and finished ahead on the boards, 46-36.

Elon came out strong to start the game, taking an 8-2 advantage with the help of four points by Evans before the first media timeout. The Phoenix led by as many as nine, 12-3, as the defense held the Lady Mocs to just one field goal in the first seven minutes of play.

The tide then shifted as UTC pulled within one, 14-13, and the maroon and gold struggled to score for four minutes until a layup by Evans at 5:51 made it a 16-13 game.

The Lady Mocs then evened the score at 16 and finished the first frame on a 9-2 run to make it 25-18 in favor of UTC at the break.

The momentum carried into the second half for the Lady Mocs as UTC opened on an 8-0 run. Trailing by 16, the Phoenix scored four unanswered off free throws by Ford and a basket by Harris to pull within 12, 38-26, with 11:38 to play.

The Phoenix struggled to score down the stretch, while UTC shot 45 in the second half to claim the 23-point win.

Elon continues its road trip with a game at Samford on Monday, Feb. 11. Tip is set for 8 p.m. (eastern).