SALEM, VA-For the second consecutive meeting with the Royals of Eastern Mennonite University in Salem, VA, the Roanoke College women's basketball team blew a double-digit lead and ended up losing, this time a 61-54 decision on Tuesday evening. The Maroons fall to 1-4 on the season and 0-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference while the Royals are now 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the ODAC. Roanoke's 1-4 start marks the first time since head coach Susan Dunagan took over prior to the 1981-82 season the Maroons have lost four of their first five contests. EMU's win avenges its loss to the Maroons in last season's ODAC quarterfinal round.
Leading 31-21 at the half, the Maroons made just nine field goals in the second half and turned the ball over 13 times over the final 20 minutes of play, letting the Royals back into the contest.
Lindsay Reynolds (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) hit two free throws to give the Maroons a 36-25 lead with 17:05 to play, but the Royals used a 10-2 run to cut that lead to just three points with 14 minutes to go. Carrie Grandstaff scored four of those 10 points for the Royals and went on to lead all scorers with 19 points. The Maroons were able to get their lead back up to six, but EMU's Laura Ludholtz hit a jumper with 7:53 to bring the game into a 45-45 tie. The game went back and forth until a Stephanie Mathews jumper with 2:55 to go gave the Royals the lead for good. With the Maroons putting pressure on EMU late, Mathews hit two three-pointers, one a bank from the wing and the other from the top of the key. Both pushed EMU's lead back up to five.
The Maroons opened the game with a
Chandra Forrester (Wytheville, VA/Rural Retreat) layup before Grandstaff hit a three to give EMU a slim 3-2 lead. The Maroons would then use a large run to push their lead out to as many as 14 points, 27-13, that with 4:42 to play in the first and coming on a
Jennie Schafer (Centreville, VA/Centreville) layup. Making her first start, guard
Michelle Ely (Charlottesville, VA/Western Albemarle) opened the game 3-for-3 from behind the three-point line, the third of those giving RC an 11-7 advantage. Ely finished the contest with a career-high nine points.
In addition to Grandstaff's 19 points, EMU also got 14 from Mathews and 12 from Ludholtz. Ludholtz also finished the game with nine rebounds, eight assists, and four steals. As a team the Royals had 16 steals on 23 Roanoke turnovers. Mathews also had a game-high seven steals, getting more than the Maroons as a team.
Reynolds and junior
Annie Roehm (Weston, CT/Weston) led the Maroons in the scoring column with 10 points each. Forrester finished the game with six points and 10 rebounds.
Emily Smith (Hampton, VA/Hampton) came off the bench to give the Maroons four points and five rebounds. The Maroons had nine blocks in the loss, four from Schafer.
Roanoke is back in action on Friday at defending ODAC champion Randolph-Macon College. The Maroons and Yellow Jackets will tip-off at 7:00pm in Ashland, VA in a game that will be Roanoke's final contest of the calendar year.
Roanoke vs. Eastern Mennonite Box Score
