By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
When Elon’s women’s basketball team plays to the level it displayed Sunday afternoon, it backs up coach Charlotte Smith’s outlook for the Phoenix.
“For me the possibilities are endless regardless of the wins and losses because I believe in this team,” Smith said. “So whether we win or lose, that doesn’t change my belief in the team. I’ve always believed in this team. That’s why I push them so hard.”
The Phoenix has won three of its past four games after defeating Towson 68-54 at Schar Center in the Coastal Athletic Association matchup.
Laila Anderson’s 16 points gave The Burlington School alum six games in a row with double figures. Tyana Walker added 15 points and LaNaé Corbett posted 13 points for Elon (10-11 overall, 5-4 CAA) in the only scheduled meeting between the teams.
“The game plan was to jump on them on defense and run the court on offense,” Anderson said.
Because of Saturday’s snowfall, the game time was pushed back two hours and there was a sparse turnout. But the Phoenix heated up right away, building a 20-5 lead before the end of the first quarter.
“I thought we did a really good job of executing the defensive plan, which gave us some momentum early on,” Smith said. “The big thing for us is building consistency because when we do things well, we do them really well.”
Anderson has been a consistent offensive factor for a few weeks.
“Laila continues to do what she’s doing well for the last five or six games,” Smith said. “It’s really good when you have a balanced scoring effort and so we had that.”
Former Elon player Hannah Dereje was Towson’s starting center, finishing with two points in 14 minutes. Elon’s Quinzia Fulmore is an ex-Towson player and she had eight points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers (12-9, 5-4) are tied for sixth place with the Phoenix.
Elon goes to North Carolina A&T on Friday night and then is home at 1:00 p.m. Sunday vs. William & Mary.
- Elon fell 77-69 to first-place College of Charleston on Friday night at home despite Anderson’s 19 points. Corbett had 11 points.
The Phoenix had a nine-point lead in the first quarter before the Cougars used a 15-2 run and led 40-30 at halftime.
