GREENSBORO, NC--A 70-56 victory over Guilford College on Thursday night not only gave the Roanoke College women's basketball team its fifth consecutive win, but it also snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Quakers. The Maroons, who had not beaten Guilford since the 2000-01 season, improve to 8-4 on the year and even their Old Dominion Athletic Conference record at 4-4. The Quakers drop their ninth straight game and are now 2-9, 0-6.
An evenly played game throughout most of the first half saw the Maroons take a 35-30 lead at the break. Senior Kayce Smith (Chattanooga, TN/The Baylor School) hit a fade-away jumper from the baseline with just one second on the clock to give the Maroons that five-point cushion. Earlier in the half, the Maroons led 13-8 but allowed the Quakers to go on an 8-0 run and take a 16-13 lead with 9:20 left on the clock. About a minute later Cindy McGraw (Lynchburg, VA/EC Glass) stole an inbounds pass at halfcourt, went one-on-one with the lone GC defender and hit a driving layup to even the score at 17.
The Quakers countered with a three, but Chandra Forrester (Wytheville, VA/Rural Retreat) and Annie Roehm (Weston, CT/Weston) hit back-to-back layups to give RC the lead, 21-20. Roehm's basket came after the Maroons stole another inbounds pass, this one off of Forrester's made layup. Guilford's fifth three-pointer of the second half evened the game at 28 with 3:54 left in the half, but Roehm answered with a three of her own to give the Maroons the lead for good.
The second half of play came down to the free throw line, where the Maroons outscored Guilford 17-6. The Maroons made just eight field goals in the second half, including two threes, and totaled just 18 points from the field. The team, however, went 17-for-22 from the free throw line in the second half and finished the day with makes on 22 of their 28 attempts. Nine of the team's first 13 points in the second half, and its final six points, came from the line. In between, McGraw hit two three-pointers and twice Kayce Smith made a layup to extend the Maroons' lead to double-digits. After the Maroons pushed their lead to 11, the Quakers trimmed that advantage to eight twice, but Kayce Smith and Emily Smith (Hampton, VA/Hampton) each hit baskets in the paint to push the edge back to 10. Roanoke had as much as a 15-point advantage in the second half.
Erin Hanson (Blacksburg, VA/Blacksburg) led all scorers with 13 points, seven coming from the free throw line. Forrester and McGraw each finished the day with 11 points while Jennie Schafer (Centreville, VA/Centreville) and Brittany Johnson (West Simsbury, CT/Simsbury) each had seven. Johnson also finished the game with five rebounds and two steals. As a team, the Maroons had 19 offensive rebounds, 10 in the second half.
The Maroons are back in action on Saturday and Sunday. Roanoke heads to Lynchburg, VA to play the Wildcats of Randolph-Macon Woman's College at 2:00pm Saturday and then will host Lynchburg College in a 4:00pm game on Sunday in Salem, VA.
Roanoke vs. Guilford Box Score
