THE PENDULUM
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 10. 2010// PAGE 23
Women’s basketball team carries stron;
momentum into final stages of schedule
Conor O'Neill
/Assistant Sports Editor
Elon women’s basketball
head coach Karen Barefoot
said she is already
encouraged by the growth
shown by her team this
season.
But she said she is not
yet satisfied and knows the
Phoenix has five more games
to prepare for the Southern
Conference tournament,
which begins March 4.
“(Our growth) is exciting,”
Barefoot said. “We just want
to get better every day, and
we’ve got five more games to
work things out.”
Some of those things
were worked out on Monday
night, when the team
traveled to Davidson College
and captured a 77-63 victory
over the Wildcats.
The Phoenix used its up
tempo style of play to race to
a 38-26 halftime advantage.
The team then went on
an 8-0 run in the first two
minutes of the second half
and never let Davidson back
into the game.
Before Monday, Elon had
a road record of 4-8. With
the win, the Phoenix improves to 10-15
on the season, 5-11 in the SoCon.
Leading the way for the Phoenix
was freshman guard Ali Ford, with 22
points. She is averaging 16 points per
game for the team this season.
In Monday’s game, Elon made 21
of its 25 free throws, a much better
statistic than the 65 percent mark it
entered the game carrying.
While improving its free throw
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COREY GROOM | Staff Photographer
Senior forward Urysla Cotton takes a foul shot. She scored 12 points in the Phoenix 77-63 victory against Davidson College.
shooting will help down the stretch,
the Phoenix will also try to improve its
decision-making. Barefoot said.
“1 think that once we can mature a
little bit, we’ll be able to make better
decisions for easy baskets,” Barefoot
said.
The team turned the ball over 16
times on Monday, compared to 31 times
in the Saturday loss to Appalachian
State University.
Another area the team will look to
improve is the communication between
players during games.
“Communication all around, on
offense and defense, needs to improve,”
sophomore forward Courtney Medley
said. “We need to know that if someone
gets beat, there’s going to be help.”
The Phoenix took a step toward
better communication against
Davidson, particularly on defense,
holding the Wildcats to 36 percent in
field goal shooting.
One factor in
improving the
communication on the
floor is the leadership
of senior forward Urysla
Cotton.
“I think the younger
players look up to me, in
a sense,” Cotton said.
On Monday night.
Cotton scored 12 points,
grabbed four rebounds
and also blocked four
shots.
Barefoot said she feels
that the most important
aspect for the team in
the closing stretch of
the season is having a
complete effort put forth
every night.
“We need to play really
well defensively and play
extremely hard for 40
minutes," Barefoot said.
“We’re going to have to
keep up our defensive
pressure and limit our
opponents’ second
chance opportunities.”
Barefoot said there
is no doubt that she
is encouraged by the
growth of the Phoenix
this season.
“Last year we made
the best with what we had. and this year
we’ve brought a lot of new faces in,”
Barefoot said. “It takes time, and we’ve
been playing some exciting basketball.
The next game for the Phoenix comes
Saturday, when it hosts the Western
Carolina Catamounts. The Phoenix
was able to beat the Catamounts on the
road earlier this season, and goes for
the regular season series sweep at 2
p.m. in Alumni Gym.
Indoor track finishes well despite early difficulties
Student athletes claim top spots at the Vince Brown Invitational
Sam Calvert
Sports Editor
Despite early season setbacks, Elon’s indoor
track team saw victories Saturday at the Vince
Brown Invitational in Newport News, Va.
Junior Veronica Day broke her own school
record in the triple jump with a distance of
three feet and four inches. Day, along with junior
Melissa Turowski, sophomore Amy Salek and
senior Jennine Strange, also placed first in the
4-by-400 meter relay with a time of four minutes
and 5.11 seconds.
“I think it was a really great meet for us,"
Turowski said. “We did really well."
Elon also had three jumpers who placed in
the top-10 in the long jump. Day finished third,
senior Monique Vines finished fourth and junior
Lauren Hawkesworth finished eighth.
Freshmen Emily Tryon and Morgan Denecke
finished fourth and fifth over all, respectively,
in the mile run. Sophomore Amanda Rice ran the
55-meter hurdles in 8.66 seconds, placing her in
the top-four in the event.
“I think we’re starting to make some headway,”
head coach Mark Elliston said. “We’re moving in
the right direction, but it’s just slow.”
The team has met several obstacles so far this
season, beginning with the weather.
Because Elon does not have an indoor track
facility, the team has to train outside. With the
recent snow and ice, this has become difficult,
Elliston said.
“It’s been a hard winter,” Elliston said. “Some
of that training that we’re not getting is really
starting to show.”
Injuries have also held the Phoenix back this
season, Elliston said.
“We’ve really been plagued with things,”
Elliston said. “This is really a tough year for us."
Although the team traveled to Newport News,
Va. for Saturday’s meet, it goes back to Lynchburg,
Va. this weekend for the third time this season
for the Liberty Invite.
JUSTINE SCHULERUD I Ptwto Editor
Junior distance runner Lauren Fredrickson runs the 800 meter at the UNC Classic. On Saturday, Fredrickson competed In the
mile run at the Vince Brown Invitational and finished with a time of 5:24:63.
This will be the fifth meet of the season, and
the last before the Southern Conference meet Feb.
25 in Clemson, S.C.
According to Elliston, the meets leading up to
the SoCon meet become “aggressive practices”
because it is the only chance that the team has to
practice in an indoor facility.
“It helps us really get in competition mode,”
Turowski said. “The more we race, the better we
get."
At the meets the team has attended, it has had
the chance to see many other Southern Conference
schools compete, including Appalachian State
University, The Citadel, College of Charleston and
Davidson College.
“We’re seeing (the other conference teams),
and I’m seeing some of the same things
going on with them that we’re dealing with,”
Elliston said. “It’s a matter of really buckling
down and working hard to deal with it.”
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