PAGE 16 // WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2011
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Top right: Sophomore guard Ali Ford drives to the hoop against Furman University.
Top left: Junior guard Alesha Harper had 25 points in Elon’s two contests.
Above: Senior guard Julie Taylor looks for a teammate in the opening round.
basketball
in shy of 20
Conor O'Neill
Assistant Sports Editor
For the first half of Sunday’s M|irch 6
game against Appalachian State Uni\|ersity,
the Elon University women's basketball team
seemed to have solved its problems w|th the
Mountaineers. The Phoenix trailed! 29-27
after a hotly contested first half and looked
to be in position to upset the No. 1 team in
the Southern Conference Tournament.
“I thought in the first half we did great
job defensively; we rebounded the baill well
and got some good looks," said head' coach
Karen Barefoot.
But it was a different story in the second
half, with the Mountaineers jumping out to
a 39-29 lead. Elon brought it back with a 6-0
run, prompting a Mountaineer timeout.
Appalachian State responded with a 15-0
run and cruised to a 72-48 victory, halting
the Phoenix’s trip to Chattanooga, Tenn.,
one game shy of the conference final.
“We came out in the second half kind
of sluggish, they punched at us and it took
us awhile to punch back,” said sophomore
forward Kelsey Evans. “We let them get
some easy shots and our shots just weren’t
falling.
The Phoenix had trouble comrolling
Appalachian State’s offense, as the
Mountaineers recorded assists on 24 of its
il tield goals.
h=.i/” the second half, they were moving the
ball quicker than we were moving our feet ”
Barefoot said. "That surprised my team to
start the second half, and we weren’t the
Evans led the Phoenix offensively with 13
HnI.h? recording Lr tenth
double-double on the season. But leading
scorer Ah Ford was limited to eight Sims
all in the first half, and was held scoreless
-Ou A« “ "" »P™lng half ’
no.S S',-i-
lust th nv tViQf *1 saia
just think that in the second half they^came
out pushing hard and got us back on our
heels.”
Regardless of the final result of the
tournament, Barefoot said she is thrilled
with the way the season has gone.
“1 am extremely proud of this team and
what they’ve accomplished all year long is
truly amazing,” Barefoot said.
It has been a journey for the team this
year, coming off a 2009-2010 season that
saw the team record a 12-19 overall record
and 6-14 in the conference.
This season, the team holds a record of
19-12 with a 12-8 SoCon mark.
“Coming from having six conference wins
to having 12 says a lot about our coaching
staff,” Evans said. “I have never known
someone to have more passion for the game
(than Barefoot)."
The Phoenix proved to be the second most
potent offense in the conference, averaging
67.5 points per game. Only the Mountaineers
average of 73.7 points was higher.
Elon allowed 64.2 points per game, giving
the team a scoring differential of 3.4, good
enough for third in the conference.
“Just looking back to where 1 came into
this program, it has been a complete jump
and leap,” Ford said. “We skipped so many
steps this year. We went from not having
a winning season to almost winning 20
games.”
In Barefoot’s first season, the 2008-2009
campaign, the team compiled a 5-26 record
with a 2-18 SoCon mark.
The Phoenix could have a chance to extend
its season with a postseason tournament,
but Barefoot would not comment on that
possibility after the loss.
“There is definitely a possibility, so we
just wait and see," Barefoot said.
Whether the Phoenix has a chance to
compete against another team this season.
Ford said the team has already been througn
a year of growth. . ,
“This team and this season were speo^^
because it was a confidence building
she said. “1 have faith in this team-’