SALEM, VA--Leading by three points at halftime, the Roanoke College women's basketball team shot 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the floor in the second half and ran away with a 67-51 win over Emory & Henry College on Thursday night in Salem, VA. The Maroons, who have now won three straight games, improve to 6-4 overall on the season and 2-4 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The Wasps fall to 5-4 on the year and 3-2 against ODAC opponents.
Roanoke led 28-25 at the half, but scored nine of the first 11 points of the second half to take a 37-27 lead with 15:10 remaining. After scoring just one point in the first half, Roanoke sophomore
Cindy McGraw (Lynchburg, VA/EC Glass) sparked the early run, scoring five points, three on her first three-pointer of the game.
Veronica Kelly (Westport, CT/Staples) got the run started with a driving layup two minutes into the half. The Wasps were able to trim the lead to seven on a Shannon Brown three-point play, but McGraw again answered for the Maroons, scoring her team's next six points, helping RC take an 11-point edge, 43-32. Brooke Barker came back with a three-pointer with 13:09 to play in the half to make the score 43-35, but an
Emily Smith (Hampton, VA/Hampton) jumper from the elbow pushed Roanoke's lead back to double-digits.
Later in the second half, the Wasps were able to get within nine, but following the second of those runs the Maroons used a 7-0 run to put the game well out of reach. Four different Maroons scored in that run, which ended with 5:19 to play in the game and with the hosts holding a 61-45 lead. Senior
Kayce Smith (Chattanooga, TN/The Baylor School) hit an easy layup in the paint to cap the run, while moments earlier
Brittany Johnson (Simsbury, CT/West Simsbury) also finished a shot in the paint. The Maroons were able to get their lead up to 18 points with less than three minutes to play.
The Maroons had a shaky start to the contest, committing three turnovers in the first two minutes of action. After Emory & Henry took a 13-10 lead, their largest edge of the Maroons settled down and with 5:31 left in the first 20 minutes of play took the lead for good on a
Kayce Smith layup. The Maroons totaled 13 turnovers in the first half, but limited their miscues to just two 16 minutes into the second half.
McGraw finished the game with 14 points, 13 of them coming in the second half where she went 4-of-5 from the field.
Erin Hanson (Blacksburg, VA/Blacksburg) finished with 13, 11 in the first half, while
Kayce Smith scored 10 points and totaled five assists for the second consecutive game.
Emily Smith blocked three shots for the Maroons, including two on one Emory & Henry possession in the first half of play.
Lindsay Reynolds (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) had eight points, six coming on driving layups. The Maroons finished the day making exactly 50 percent of their shots from the field, the first time all season they reached that mark.
Amy Hensley was Emory & Henry's leading scorer with nine points. The four other E&H starters each finished with eight points. The Wasps finished with 21 offensive rebounds but only totaled eight second chance points in the contest. The Wasps finished the day with just 16 field goals on 59 attempts and were outscored 32-18 in the paint.
The Maroons are back in action on Tuesday in a home game against the Generals of Washington & Lee University. The game in Roanoke's C. Homer Bast Center begins at 7:00pm.
Roanoke vs. Emory & Henry Box Score
