SALEM, VA-The Roanoke College women's basketball team held the Lynchburg College Hornets to just five second half field goals in a 64-54 win over the Hornets in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference contest on Thursday night. The Maroons move to 5-7 with the win and now own a 4-4 mark in the conference. The Hornets also have the same 5-7 overall record, but are now just 3-6 in league play.
With the game tied at 30 at halftime, the Maroons fell behind 32-30 in the early moments of the second half after a Lacey Currle layup just 18 seconds into the frame. Roanoke's
Lindsay Reynolds (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) responded seconds later with an old fashion three-point play that gave the Maroons a 33-32 lead. Never again would Roanoke trail, pushing that lead out to as many as 15 points. That 15-point lead came with 9:01 to go in the game on a
Kayce Smith (Chattanooga, TN/The Baylor School) two-point jumper. Trailing by 12 following a Smith three-pointer, the Hornets trimmed the lead to just six points behind a three from Shannon Newton and a three-point play from freshman center Caroline Wesley. After Reynolds gave the Maroons a nine-point lead (58-49), back-to-back Maroon turnovers let the Hornets again cut the lead to six.
Down by six with 2:02 to play, the Hornets were forced, down the stretch, to foul the Maroons. Roanoke, which struggled from the line in a loss to Bridgewater on Tuesday, made all six of their free throw attempts in the final 1:14 to not only ice the win, but also push the lead to 10 points.
In addition to the free throw shooting late, Roanoke's win was sparked by a defensive effort that saw the Hornets make just five field goals in the second half. Overall, Lynchburg made just 18 percent (5-for-27) of its shots from the field in the second half. Roanoke made only nine, but took just 18 shots in the second half. Five of those nine Roanoke field goals were three-pointers, however, three coming from sophomore Reynolds. The Maroons also made 11 of their 16 free throws in the half.
Lynchburg took an early 11-6 lead behind four points from Lori Fletcher, who missed the entire second half with an injury. The Maroons responded with a 13-1 run with six of the points coming in the paint from
Jennie Schafer (Centreville, VA/Centreville) and
Chandra Forrester (Wytheville, VA/Rural Retreat) and the final five scored by Smith. Roanoke took as much as a seven-point lead in the first, but Lynchburg came back to tie the score at 30 going into the break on a Stephanie Howell layup.
Smith finished the game with a season-high 18 points for the Maroons, making six of her nine shots and both of her three-point attempts. Reynolds scored 17 for the Maroons, getting 12 of them from three-point range. She also added three steals, as did
Emily Smith (Hampton, VA/Hampton) coming off of the bench. Junior center Forrester set a new career-high with 13 rebounds, 10 of them coming in the first half alone.
Wesley scored 12 points for the Hornets, all coming from within 10 feet of the basket or from the free throw line, where she went 6-for-9. Senior point guard Abby Pyzik tallied 11 points, six coming in the second half and also added a game-best six steals. After going 3-for-8 from the free throw line in the first half, the Hornets regrouped to go 13-of-15 in the second period of play.
Roanoke is back in action this coming Saturday in a road game at Virginia Wesleyan College in Virginia Beach, VA. The Maroons and Marlins get under way at 2:00pm in the ODAC contest. The Maroons have lost three of their past four games at Virginia Wesleyan.
Roanoke vs. Lynchburg Box Score
