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Mountaineers unable to obtain season sweep |
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Tuesday, 19 February 2008 |
by RYAN WIXTED
Sports Editor
After suffering an overtime loss to Appalachian State University in late January, Elon University got the redemption they were looking for as they downed the Mountaineers 72-52 at Holmes Convocation Center Saturday.
The Phoenix jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first six minutes of the ballgame and never relinquished it.
Appalachian struggled to find their shot, shooting only 33 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range.
 Senior guard Whitney Tossie scores a bucket in the 72-52 loss against the Elon Phoenix Saturday at Holmes Convocation Center. Tossie led the team with 16 points. Photo by Derek DeSha
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“We
couldn’t find the bottom of the basket today,” ASU head coach Adrienne
Shuler said. “We struggled scoring offensively. It’s just like I told
the [team], it’s hard to keep coming back and playing defense when we
can put the ball in the basket on the other end.”
Appalachian struggled to stop Elon guards Tierra Bumbrey and Tiffany Davis, who both combined for 31 points and seven assists.
ASU senior guard Whitney Tossie and freshman guard Sam Ramirez were the
only two Mountaineers able to provide a scoring presence.
Tossie finished the game with 16 points and five rebounds and Ramirez added 12 points, going 2-of-4 from behind the arc.
“One big thing was our shots weren’t falling,” Tossie said. “It seemed
like we were playing as individuals and not as a team - that’s one big
thing that hurt us. We knew what we had to do, and we knew what they
were capable of doing. We just did not come out and execute the game
plan.”
Appalachian struggled to get any second chance opportunities, as Elon
was able to dominate the glass, out rebounding the Mountaineers 44-37.
“Like every game down on the block, it was physical,” senior forward
Courtney Cunningham said. “There’s no difference from this game then
last game. We are both pretty physical teams.”
Shuler said there were several factors why ASU could not generate any offense to make a late second half comeback.
“We had expended so much to get back into it and anytime you do that
and spend all that energy, it’s tough to finish out the game,” she
said. “We didn’t get a whole lot from our bench, so we were going with
the kids that got us back into it, and unfortunately they were spent,
and Elon kept fresh players in the whole time.”
The Mountaineers struggled to keep up with Elon’s fresh legs throughout
the game, as the Phoenix were able to get 20 points from their bench.
With the loss the Mountaineers fall to 6-19 overall and 3-11 in
Southern Conference play with only four games remaining in the regular
season. The Mountaineers will look to finish the season strong in hopes
of earning a respectable seeding in the SoCon tournament.
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