Dec. 6, 2000

Box Score

ELON COLLEGE, N.C. - The Elon Phoenix struggled from the field Wednesday night as the Catamounts of Western Carolina sent Elon reeling with a 71-65 loss at Alumni Gym.

Neither team was able to mount much of a lead in the first half and the game was shaping up to be a seesaw battle. The first stanza saw 11 lead changes and five ties, the latest coming with the score knotted at 26 with 4:24 left. Western Carolina (5-3) was able to grab a 34-28 lead at the half thanks to 12 first half points by Laura Echols.

The second half seemed to be shaping up to be as tight as the first. Elon (2-5), who shot only 32.4 percent from the field, to grab a four point lead when Anestha Blakeney layed in two of her 10 points with 13:29 left to play. The Catamounts fought back and tied it up when Katie Scott made the first of two free throws with 8:36 left in the half. Scott's second free throw put Western Carolina ahead for good by the scote of 47-46. The Phoenix never got closer than four again.

April Fleck paced the Catamounts with 21 points, 8-of-10 from the line, nine rebounds and blocked two shots. Echols added 17 points and five rebounds while Janetta Heggins finished with four assists and eight points.

Despite the poor shooting performance for the Phoenix, Loretta Lawson managed to drain 21 points on 7-of-21 shooting (4-of-11 behind the arc). Jayme Chikos had a game-high nine assists and grabbed four rebounds. Blakeney grabbed eight boards for Elon.