ASHLAND, VA--The Roanoke College women's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 62-41 win over North Carolina Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon at the Randolph-Macon Tip-Off tournament in Ashland, VA. The Maroons' 2-0 start is its second in the past three seasons. The Maroons look to get off to their first 3-0 start for the first time since the 1997-98 season on Monday when they host the Panthers of Ferrum College at 7:00pm in Salem, VA's C. Homer Bast Center.
For the second consecutive day, the Maroons opened the game with a three-pointer and for the second time in as many days never trailed in the contest.
Kayce Smith (Chattanooga, TN/The Baylor School) drained a three-pointer about 1:30 into the contest to give the Maroons the lead. NC Wesleyan trimmed the lead to one, but six consecutive points in the paint, four from senior
Emily Smith (Hampton, VA/Hampton) gave RC a 12-7 lead. That lead quickly was pushed out to 14 points with Roanoke going on a 9-0 run. Freshman
Erin Hanson (Blacksburg, VA/Blacksburg) drained a three-pointer and two free throws in the run, while
Annie Roehm (Weston, CT/Weston) made two jumpers.
The Maroons held a 25-12 lead at the break after holding the Bishops to just five field goals in the first 20 minutes of play. Roanoke limited NC Wesleyan to just 18.5 percent (5-of-27) from the field in the half and committed just eight turnovers in the first half of play. In the opening moments of the second half, the Bishops cut Roanoke's lead to nine, but another RC run, capped by a
Cindy McGraw (Lynchburg, VA/EC Glass) three-pointer ran Roanoke's lead up to 17. Roanoke's second half lead got to as many as 26 points.
Hanson led the Maroons, and all scorers in the game, with a career-high 16 points. She also added seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Smith was Roanoke's next leading scorer with seven points. Again a balanced attack sparked the Maroon offense, with 11 players scoring at least one point.
Chandra Forrester (Wytheville, VA/Rural Retreat) scored six points and led the Maroons with nine rebounds. The Maroons also missed just three of their 25 free throw attempts, just one of 16 in the second half.
Both Hanson and Smith were both named to the All-Tournament team.
Roanoke vs. NC Wesleyan Box Score
