Ali Ford scored 21 points including eight in the final two-and-a-half minutes to force overtime and lead the Elon Phoenix to the 56-49 win over the College of Charleston women's basketball team in action this afternoon in Elon, N.C.
The Cougars (5-14, 2-8) scored the first five baskets in the second half, including a three-pointer by Smith at 18:40 to take the one-point, 27-26, lead with 18:03 on the clock. Trailing 34-31 with 11:53 remaining, the Cougars went on a 14-0 run, behind six points from Cathryn Hardy (Dayton, Ohio) to retake the lead, 45-34, with 4:41 left on the clock.
Elon's Candice Silas ended the drought with a short jumper at 3:55 and The Phoenix (13-5, 8-2) trailed by nine, 45-36. Julie Taylor cut the margin to six with a three-pointer at 3:22 to force a Cougar timeout with the score 45-39.
Ford tied the game up at 1:50 on the clock with back to back three-pointers, part of a 13-0 Elon run, and gave the Phoenix the lead with two free throws at 1:01. Trailing 47-45, Cougar Janae Smith (Matteson, Ill.) knotted the game back up with 35.4 seconds to go. After an Elon turnover, the Cougars got the ball back with just a few seconds left but the potential game-winner by Smith was just short and the game went into overtime.
The overtime period was all Elon as the Phoenix out-scored the Cougars 9-2, to take the 56-49 win. Charleston's lone basket was a jumper by Latisha Harris (Aynor, S.C.) at 3:15.
Charleston opened the game with four unanswered and used a five-point effort from Smith to widen the gap to six, 9-3, with 15:31 remaining. Elon began to click on offense and went on a 19-6 run, backed up by six points from Ali Ford, to take its largest lead of the game, 22-15, with 3:22 to go before intermission.
Trailing by six with just a second to play, Ariel Hatcher (Detroit, Mich.) hit a layup as time expired to cut the margin to four at the half, 22-26.
With six assists in the game, Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) became the school's Division I assists leader. She has 418, surpassing Jade Hughes' (Spartanburg S.C.) 413.
Smith led the Cougars with 14 points and six rebounds, followed by Harris with 10 points and six boards. Following Ford and her 21 points was Kelsey Evans with 12 points and a team-leading eight rebounds.
Charleston shot 33.9 percent from the field for the game, while Elon shot 34.5. Rebounds were fairly even with Elon holding the slight 40-39 advantage. The Cougars led the turnover race, 28-24 and it was the Phoenix that capitalized, posting 31 points off those, compared to just 19 for CofC.
Charleston is next in action Monday, Jan. 24 against Furman. Tip-off at the Carolina First Arena is at 7:00 p.m. For ticket information visit www.CofCSports.com or call the ticket office at 843.953.CofC (2632).
