Sophomore guard Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) scored a team-high 14 points and dished out a game-high six assists as the College of Charleston (14-5, 7-4) handed Elon (1-18, 0-11) a 68-42 defeat Saturday afternoon in a Southern Conference women's basketball game at the Carolina First Arena. The victory is the sixth straight for the Cougars, dating back to a 64-53 decision over Appalachian State on January 10.
After battling out to an 8-6 lead with 15:28 to go in the first half, the Cougars exploded for a 20-2 run over the next 8:47 to push their lead to 28-8 by the 6:41 mark. Junior forward Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.) fueled the run as she scored eight of her 10 points during the stretch, draining both of her three-pointers in the process. From there, Charleston coasted into the half with a 36-12 advantage.
Elon came out of the gate strong at the start of the second half, scoring the first six points on three straight jumpers, before CofC extended back to a 46-19 lead with 12:41 to play. Trailing 52-25 at the 10:28 mark, the Phoenix used a 14-5 run over the next 5:01 to close to within 57-39. That would be as close as they would get, however, as the Cougars closed out the game with an 11-3 run to secure the 68-42 victory.
Freshman guard Tiara Gause led the way for Elon with a game-high 15 points while freshman forward Erica Keto pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with five points. Junior forward Urysla Cotton scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds and sophomore guard Julie Taylor added eight points. Freshman guard Aiesha Harper posted a solid all-around game with four points, four rebounds and a game-high four assists.
For Charleston, Gerty's 14 points led all scorers while Kotcella added 10 points, all in the first half, as the only other double-figure scorer. Senior forward Nikki Williams (North, S.C.) scored nine points and added five rebounds and a team-high three steals while senior forward Sarah Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) scored seven points and hauled in a team-high eight rebounds. Junior guard Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) finished with five points, five rebounds and four assists and freshman forward Ariel Hatcher (Monroe, Mich.) notched a career-high eight points, all in the second half.
As a team, Charleston shot 45.9 percent from the field and limited the Phoenix to 28.1 percent from the field.
The Cougars return to the court on Monday, January 26 when they host UNC Greensboro in a 7:00 p.m. affair at the Carolina First Arena.
NOTES
The victory stretches the Cougars win streak over Elon to four straight and five of the last six meetings ... the 26-point margin of victory represents Charleston's second largest of the season ... CofC defeated the Phoenix earlier this year by a score of 85-55 at Alumni Gym in Elon, N.C. for their largest margin of victory ... The Cougars have won six in a row for the first time since the 1996-97 season ... Charleston is 4-0 this season and 26-0 since joining the Southern Conference when holding opponents to under 20 percent shooting from the field.
