Ezumah Double-Double Leads No. 8 Campbell Past No. 9 Elon 67-52 in Second Round of CAA Championship
Hunter Peters
CHAMP CENTRAL | BOX SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTO GALLERY | CAMPBELL PRESSER | ELON PRESSER
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 14, 2024) –
Christabel Ezumah recorded her eighth double-double this season to lead No. 8 Campbell to a second-round victory over No. 9 Elon, 67-52, at the CAA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Primis Thursday afternoon at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.
It marks the first CAA Championship victory in program history for Campbell, who improves to 17-13 this season and advances to face top-seeded Stony Brook in the quarterfinals tomorrow at noon. Elon concludes its season 11-21 after the setback.
Ezumah finished with a game-high 19 points, shooting 7-of-10 from the floor and 13 rebounds, adding four blocks and two steals defensively. Brittany Staves joined her in double figures, adding 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Elon was paced by Iycez Adams, recording a team-high 17 points, with four rebounds, four steals and one block.
Elon opened the scoring 38 seconds in, but it was all Campbell for the rest of the first quarter. The Camels held the Phoenix scoreless for the ensuing 8:07, building a 12-2 lead. Ezumah gave Campbell a 14-3 advantage at the end of the opening stanza with a second-chance layup at the buzzer. The Camels limited Elon to 8.3 percent (1-12) shooting in the first, and the Phoenix went 0-for-11 from the floor over the final 9:22.
The Phoenix cut into the deficit in the second quarter, outscoring Campbell 19-14, but the Camels took a 28-22 lead into the break. Elon used a 7-0 run to climb within four, 22-18, before Staves hit Campbell’s first three-pointer in the contest to push the lead back to eight (28-20), and Regina Walton responded with a jumper on the next possession, sending us into halftime.
Campbell regained a double-digit lead at the end of the third, 45-33. Maintaining a five-point advantage, the Camels made five straight field goals, capped by a Staves and-one opportunity before three free throws by Sarah Hammock-Fitzgerald gave Campbell its largest lead of the game at 44-29. Ezumah added a late free throw and grabbed seven boards in the frame to secure her second consecutive double-double.
Campbell maintained a double-digit margin for the remainder of the game as the Camels outscored Elon 22-19 in the fourth. Despite no field goals over the final 3:26, Campbell went 14-of-16 from the charity stripe in the fourth to ice the game.
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