NCAA Women's College Basketball: Elon 77, College of Charleston 68

            The Elon Phoenix captured their first home win in Colonial Athletic Association play, defeating the visiting College of Charleston Cougars 77-68 on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Gym. Senior guard Zora Stephenson led the Phoenix (10-5, 3-1 CAA) with a team-high 27 points, hitting seven three-pointers (six in the first half) and all four of her free throw attempts.

            Trailing 38-24 at halftime, the Cougars (3-12, 1-3) scored 16 of the first 20 points after intermission to get within two. Charleston’s Breanna Bolden converted a shot from behind the arc to tie the score at 47 with just over 10 minutes to play. The sophomore forward tallied a game-high 29 points in the loss.

            Charleston recorded its first lead of the game (49-47) with 9:55 remaining on a layup by senior center Mikaela Hopkins. Elon’s Shay Burnett, a freshman guard, helped the Phoenix answer Charleston’s run, connecting on an and-one play and then on a fast break layup on a pass from sophomore guard Essence Baucom to pull the Phoenix back in front, 54-53.

            Stephenson helped the Phoenix pull away for the victory, totaling nine points in the final five minutes of action. Elon sealed the win with excellent shooting from the free-throw line, hitting 18 of its 19 second-half attempts from the charity strike.

            “We’ve been concentrating on free throws for quite a while,” Elon head coach Charlotte Smith said. “Coach [Christy] McKinney has really pushed the players to get in the gym and shoot 100 free throws a day.”

            Elon held Charleston to 24 first-half points on 30.3 percent shooting, but the Phoenix’s defense began to unravel at the start of the second half.

            “Bolden got too many open looks in the second half,” Smith said. “You have to know where the shooters are. You have to be cognizant of where they are at all times.”

            The Phoenix utilized their bench—which outscored the Charleston reserves 16-2—to push past the Cougars. No one on Charleston played more than five minutes in the defeat.

            “Coach rotates a lot of people and I think that’s an advantage because we can get fresh bodies in and out,” Stephenson said. “Other teams scouting us have to know 10 to 11 people and that’s tough.”

            Elon, which wrapped up its stretch of four games in eight days, hosts James Madison—the reigning CAA champions who are undefeated in conference play—on Thursday, Jan. 15. Charleston returns to action on Friday Jan. 16, with a home tilt versus Towson.