Elon, N.C. – Evonna McGill and Kayla Liles both scored 17 points to lead the Elon Phoenix to a 72-64 victory over the Furman women's basketball team on Sunday afternoon inside the Schar Center.
Elon improves to 3-1 on the season while Furman drops to 1-4 overall.
Sydney James scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Paladins offensively on 6-of-7 shooting and connecting on all four of her 3-point attempts.
Tierra Hodges followed with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, giving her five straight games of 10 or more points to start the season.
Tate Walters also had nine points, while Hodges and
Grace van Rij both registered four rebounds.
McGill and Liles combined to shoot 12-of-21 from the field for the Phoenix. Ariel Colon added 10 points. McGill and Brie Perpignan both pulled down a game-high six rebounds.
Trailing 50-46 heading into the fourth quarter, Elon outscored Furman 26-14 to record the eight-point win after shooting 10-of-18 from the field. The Phoenix opened the quarter on a 14-3 run and built a 60-53 advantage with 6:52 remaining. The Paladins got as close as four, 67-63, with 50 seconds left after a 3-pointer by Hodges. Elon scored five of the game's final six points.
Hodges scored 12 of her 19 points in the first half as Furman built a 33-31 halftime lead behind a 12-of-20 shooting performance and making four of its seven 3-point attempts. The Paladins took their largest lead of the game with 3:11 to go in the third quarter at 47-39 following a jumper by James. The Phoenix trimmed their deficit down to one before
Evie DePetro knocked down a three with 1:16 remaining to extend Furman's lead to 50-46.
The Paladins concluded the game shooting 56.4 percent (22-of-39) from the field and 52.9 percent (9-of-17) behind the 3-point line. Furman also held a 27-17 advantage in bench points.
Elon connected on 24-of-60 (40.0 percent) field goal attempts and led 38-27 in rebounding.
The game featured ten ties and seven lead changes.
The Paladins host Converse in their home opener on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.
