Cougars Fall to Elon, 97-72 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

Saturday, February 7

Elon, N.C.

4:30pm

College of Charleston

Elon

Cougars Fall to Elon, 97-72 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

2/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

#articleRelated { display: none !important; } Jessica Williams poured in a career-high 24 points and Lisa Miller turned in her first career double-double with 20 points and 10 assists - both career bests - as Elon turned back College of Charleston 97-72 in Southern Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gym.

Williams canned eight of her 14 attempts from the field, including seven of her nine shots from behind the three-point line as the Phoenix (12-9 overall, 8-6 Southern Conference) won for the ninth time in 13 games while avenging an 86-68 loss to the Cougars (5-17, 3-12) in Charleston on Jan. 10. Her eight field goals and seven treys give her two new career bests.

Miller connected on a career-high seven of her 12 tries from the floor, including four of her five attempts from beyond the arc as the Phoenix established a new single-game program record for three-point field goal percentage. Elon sank 70.6 percent of its shots from three-point land (13 of 17), breaking the four-year-old record of 70.0 percent (14 of 20), set in a victory over Norfolk State back on Dec. 4, 1999.

In the early going, the Phoenix used an 18-5 run to turn a 7-4 deficit into a 22-12 advantage on a jumper by Miller with 13:29 to play in the opening stanza. Elon maintained a seven to 13 point advantage until the Cougars rallied early in the second half, reeling off seven straight points to pull within 51-45 on a layup by Emilee Terry with 16:43 remaining in the contest. However, the Cougars could not inch any closer as the Phoenix soared to an 81-56 cushion via a 30-11 run, capped by a Brittany Winner basket with 6:28 left on the clock.

Elon's Courtney Nyborg netted 15 points - including 14 in the first half - and blocked two shots to tie the program's single-season mark that she set during the 2001-02 campaign with 56 blocked shots. With 182 career blocks, Nyborg is a mere two swats away from becoming the Phoenix's outright all-time leader in that category. Tashina DeVeaux amassed 183 blocked shots during her career (1997-2001).

Samantha McComas sank five of her six shots, giving Elon a fourth double-digit scorer with a career-high-tying 12 points. The Phoenix surpassed the 90-point plateau for the first time since beating Peace 96-16 on Jan. 4, 2001. The 97 markers represent the highest offensive output for Elon since the Phoenix rolled past Averett by a 111-50 margin on Dec. 1, 1999.

Erica Nesmith (12 points) and Rachel King (11 points) led College of Charleston, which out-rebounded Elon 37-32. The Cougars also forged advantages in second chance points (15-11) and bench points (33-30).

Elon ended up the better team in field goal percentage (55.4-43.1, including 62.1-41.4 in the second half), three-point field goal percentage (70.6-34.8), free throw percentage (76.5-70.0), assists (24-14), turnovers (13-25), steals (a career-high 15-7), points in the paint (34-20) and points off turnovers (24-16). Each team blocked three shots.

The Phoenix will return to action with a 6 p.m. Southern Conference contest against Georgia Southern Monday at Alumni Gym. Meanwhile, College of Charleston visits UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m. that same night.