Elon WBB Wins Eighth-Straight, Most in a Row as Division I Program

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Eleven of 12 Elon University women’s basketball student-athletes scored Friday night, Jan. 13, as the Phoenix earned an 84-56 win at College of Charleston inside TD Arena for the program’s eighth-straight victory, the longest streak Elon has had since transitioning to Division I.

BOX SCORE

“This was a solid performance for us,” said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. “We came out with a good focus and handle of the defensive plan that we had practiced the last two days so I felt confident we would execute the game plan. I felt like we did a great job and I’m very proud of the team.”

Elon was led by Lauren Brown’s 16 points, who led all scorers on the night. All five of her made field goals came from three-point range. She was joined in double figures by double-doubles from Malaya Johnson and Jenifer Rhodes. Johnson notched 15 points and 12 rebounds while Rhodes chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds in just 15 minutes of action. Jada Graves rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points. She knocked down 8-of-10 free throws on the night while hitting 2-of-3 shots from the floor.

Charleston (5-10, 2-2 CAA) was led by 14 points apiece from reigning CAA Player of the Week Breanna Bolden and Dajah Logan. Bolden also pulled down seven rebounds in the game and Logan shot 7-of-12 from the floor in 23 minutes. Deja Ford also scored 12 points in the contest.

Elon, now 4-0 in CAA play and 12-4 overall, has held each of its last eight opponents under 40 percent shooting. The Cougars finished at 38.2 percent for the night after shooting 46.4 percent in the second half.

The Rundown
Charleston’s Logan scored each of Charleston’s first two buckets to make it 4-2 after Johnson opened the game with a jumper, but Elon went on a 15-5 run throughout the remaining 7:19 of the quarter to double up the Cougars in the first quarter, 18-9. Johnson, Shay Burnett and Jenifer Rhodes accounted for 12 of Elon’s 18 points in the quarter with Johnson’s six leading the way.

Like the first quarter, Charleston opened with two of the first three buckets of the frame but Brown’s back-to-back three-pointers put an end to Charleston’s momentum as Elon went up 13 at 26-13. In all, Brown scored 10-straight Elon points in 3:12 of game action and kickstarted Elon’s 24-6 run over the final 8:35 of the half to take a commanding 44-19 lead into halftime.

Out of the break, the two teams went back and forth throughout the final two quarters with Elon only outscoring CofC by three at 40-37, but the damage had already been done in the opening 20 minutes on the way to the milestone win.

Notes
– Since transitioning to Division I, Elon had won seven games in a row twice before in 2010-11 and 2002-03, but had never notched eight in a row until Friday.
– Dating back to the program’s inception, Elon has won more than eight games in a row just seven times with the longest streak at 17 in both 1973-74 and 1974-75 under Kay Yow.
– The 28-point win marks the largest victory in Elon’s brief CAA history. The previous largest win came last Sunday in a 27-point win over Delaware.
– Elon’s 25-point lead at halftime ties the largest lead at the break for the Phoenix this season. Elon also lead by 25 at halftime on Dec. 28 against King.
– After being outrebounded in each of its first two games of CAA play, Elon has outrebounded two opponents in a row and has grabbed at least 50 rebounds in both games. Last Sunday against Delaware, the Phoenix pulled down 62 rebounds before grabbing 50 more at Charleston in outrebounding the Cougars by 15.
– College of Charleston shot 38.2 percent on Friday and is the first team since Jan. 2 to shoot above 30 percent in a game, which was also done by the Cougars.

Up Next
Elon will look to extend its winning streak to nine in a row with a challenge back at home against Drexel on Sunday, Jan. 15. Last Friday, Jan. 6, in Philadelphia, Elon earned its first-ever win over Drexel in topping the Dragons 48-45. Sunday’s game is set to tip off at 3 p.m. on American Sports Network.