ASHEVILLE, N.C. — After splitting the regular season series, Elon and Appalachian State met for a third time this season, this time in postseason play. In the quarterfinals of the 2014 Southern Conference Tournament, the fifth-seeded Phoenix outlasted the fourth-seeded Mountaineers 59-56.
“I am excited about the great win today against a great team,” said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. ”I felt like we did a great job of coming out and focusing on our defensive plan.”
Elon dominated ASU on the glass 45-30, which was a big emphasis for the Phoenix entering the game.
“The two contests that we played prior to today, they had twenty-plus offense rebounds,” said Smith. “We held them to eight offensive rebounds today.”
The game was tight throughout as neither team was able to build a sizable lead. When the Phoenix seemed to be gaining momentum late in the 2nd half, Elon’s Jessica Farmer was called for a technical foul, which opened the door for ASU and led to an exciting finish.
“I told them to stay cool, clam, and collected,” said Smith. You take the officiating out the equation and control the things that we can control. We want to be an organization that represents Elon with first class.”
Elon senior Kelsey Harris led the way down the stretch and finished the game with a team high 14 points on the day.
“It is a great feeling being here for the fourth time,” said Harris. “My goal is to go out and just play hard every game and play each game like it is my last.
With the win, Elon (15-15) advances to the semi-finals where they will face #1 seed Chattanooga (27-3) on Sunday at 12 p.m. for a chance to play in the SoCon Championship on Monday.
“We are going to do the same thing that we do for every team,” said Harris. “We know that we have a big task ahead of us, just stay focused on what we need to do and accomplishing that goal.”
