DANVILLE, VA--The Roanoke College women's basketball team picked up its first victory of the 2006-07 season, defeating Averett University 80-53 on the road on Saturday afternoon. The Maroons are now 1-1 overall, the Cougars fall to 0-4. Roanoke returns to action on Tuesday in a home game against Old Dominion Athletic Conference opponent Lynchburg College.
Averett took an early 2-0 lead in Saturday's contest on a fastbreak layup by Darcy Jones. Roanoke's
Cindy McGraw answered with a jumper to even the score and after a Maroon steal, freshman
Jaleesa Osborne drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Maroons a 5-2 lead. The game would never be tied again and the Maroons would not trail the rest of the way. Osborne's three-pointer started a 12-4 Roanoke run that ended with a
Brittany Johnson layup.
Roanoke's early lead got out to nine points, that at 17-8 on a
Caitlyn Long three-pointer from the corner, but the Cougars answered with an 8-2 run of their own to cut the Maroons lead to three, 19-16, with 11:58 left in the first. Leading 21-18 with just over 10 minutes to play, the Maroons went on a 10-0 run to blow the game open.
Torri Bridge and
Erin Hanson scored four points each in the run, all coming in the paint. Bridge gave the Maroons an 11-point lead on a running left-handed hook shot in the lane, while Johnson capped the run with a finish of a McGraw pass. Freshman
Courtney Long hit a three from the wing and
Caitlyn Long hit her second three of the half and the Maroons owned a 16-point lead in the first.
Averett was not able to get any closer than 10 points in the second half.
Caitlyn Long hit a three-pointer with just over nine minutes left in the game to give Roanoke its first 20-point lead.
Hanson finished with her second straight double-double, scoring 23 points and adding 12 rebounds. She also added five assists and three steals. McGraw finished with 15 points, four assists, and two blocks. After going 7-for-12 from the line in the first half and missing their first free throw of the second half, the Maroons ended the game making 14 of 17 attempts.
Roanoke vs. Averett Box Score
