Box Score SALEM, VA--Behind a stifling first half defense and an efficient first half offense, the Roanoke College women's basketball team defeated visiting Guilford College 65-44. The Maroons, who picked up their fifth consecutive victory, improve to 7-5 on the season and even their Old Dominion Athletic Conference record at 4-4. Guilford falls to 3-8 overall and 2-4 in league play. The win was also the third consecutive for the Maroons in the series with Guilford.
With the score even at six just three minutes into the game, the Maroons took complete command of things with an 11-0 run to take a 17-6 lead. Five different Maroons scored in the run.
Erin Hanson drained two free throws and
Cindy McGraw knocked down a three-pointer and RC held an 11-6 lead. After
Veronica Kelly and
Ashley Nesbit made buckets,
Brittany Rogers capped the run with a basket in the paint off of an offensive rebound. Guilford's Shevon Hackett responded with a free throw to make the Maroon lead 10 points, 17-7, but that would be as close as the Quakers would get the rest of the way.
Up by 14 after points from both Hanson and McGraw, the Maroons would extend their lead to 17 points, getting a layup and a step-back three-pointer from
Lindsay Reynolds. Roanoke would quickly get that lead out to 25 points, getting a three-point play from Kelly, a three-pointer from sophomore
Stephanie Morrisey, and layups from freshmen
Marcy Conner and
Maria Migliarese. The Maroon lead would get as high as 26 points in the first half.
The Maroons shot 17-for-32 from the field in the first half, 53.1 percent, their second best shooting half in any game this season. On the other end, the Maroon defense limited the Quakers to seven first half field goals and 16 first half turnovers.
The Quakers used a 13-2 run to open the second half to cut Roanoke's 41-18 halftime lead to just 12 points, 43-31. Guilford senior Jennifer King scored five consecutive points early in the second half, her first points of the game, and Dionne Graham hit a three and a layup to make the score 43-30. After Hackett made a free throw to trim the lead to 12, Roanoke again quickly pushed their lead back out to 20 points.
Leading by 20 points, 51-31, the Reynolds and Hanson got steals at halfcourt and fastbreak layups on the other end on consecutive GC possessions and the Maroons had a 55-31 lead.
Erin Hanson was the lone Maroon to score in double-figures, netting 16 points, but in all the squad got point production from 13 different players. Reynolds added eight points and a team-high four assists.
Cindy McGraw had four of Roanoke's nine steals.
The Maroon defense held King, the ODAC's second leading scorer heading into the game scoreless in the first half and to just eight points in the contest. Graham scored 17 points to pace Guilford.
The Maroons host Randolph-Macon Woman's College on Saturday in a 12:00pm contest and then head to Lynchburg College on Sunday afternoon. Guilford hosts Eastern Mennonite on Sunday.
Roanoke vs. Guilford Box Score
