SALEM, VA--Roanoke College junior
Erin Hanson scored 28 points and senior
Cindy McGraw scored 21 points to lead the women's basketball team to an 83-69 victory over Lynchburg College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference play Tuesday evening. The Maroons are now 2-1 overall this season, 1-0 in the ODAC. The Hornets fall to 0-3, 0-1 in league action.
Hanson and freshman
Jaleesa Osborne each scored four points in Roanoke's 10-0 run to open Tuesday's game. After the pair gave the Maroons a 6-0 lead,
Brittany Johnson scored in the lane to make the score 8-0. Moments later Osborne hit a short jumper and the Maroons owned a 10-0 lead in a game in which they never trailed. After Lynchburg's Caroline Wesley got the Hornets on the board, McGraw scored four straight points and Hanson added four in a row of her own and the Maroon lead was out to 18-2, the largest it would get in the opening half.
Trailing by 12 points, 41-29, with just 1:56 left in the first half, the Hornets held Roanoke without a shot from the field the rest of the way and in the process trimmed the lead to just six at the break. After two missed free throws by the Maroons, Wesley cut the lead to 10 with a layup. Back-to-back Roanoke turnovers in the final 39 seconds led to two Lynchburg field goals, the second from freshman Dana Esposito with less than a second to play, and Roanoke's halftime lead was 41-35.
Wesley opened scoring in the second half with a layup to trim the lead to just four. Roanoke pushed the lead back to six, but Wesley and Brittany Dahn sandwiched baskets around a Roanoke turnover to close to within two points, 43-41, with 16:15 to play in regulation. Three more times in the second half the Hornets got to within two points. The third time came with 14:00 showing on the clock, but was countered by a 9-0 Roanoke run.
That Roanoke run was started when McGraw hit a three from the top of the key. After the shot, and after the basket was made, the Hornets were called for a foul, giving possession immediately back to the Maroons. A second Roanoke three in the matter of 12 seconds and the home team led by eight. A Hanson layup and
Torri Bridge free throw and the Maroon run hit 9-0. Lynchburg cut the lead to nine with 8:58 to play in the contest, but Hanson rebounded and finished a missed shot and the Maroon lead was in double-digits for good.
Hanson finished the game with career highs in both points (28) and rebounds (15), breaking both marks by one. She originally set her previous highs as a freshman and has three double-double in three games this season. McGraw had her best offensive night of the young season, making four three-pointers and shooting 8-for-12 from the field to finish with 21.
Ashley Nesbit came off the bench to get season-highs in points, six, and rebounds, five.
Wesley finished the game with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while freshman Kristina Darby scored 16 points and added five assists and five rebounds, while first-year player Esposito had 12 points and four rebounds.
The Maroons are back in action on Friday in a road game against the Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan College. That game in Virginia Beach begins at 7:00pm. Roanoke then plays at #22 Randolph-Macon College on Saturday at 4:30pm.
Roanoke vs. Lynchburg Box Score
