SALEM, VA--After getting swept in the regular season series by the Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan College, the Roanoke College women's basketball team exacted some revenge on Thursday night, defeating the Marlins 66-50 in the quarterfinals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament. The Maroons, who improve to 13-12 on the season, will next play second seeded Bridgewater College at 3:00pm on Friday afternoon. The game will be played at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA.
After the opening tip the Maroons never trailed in Thursday's contest and saw the score even just once.
Brittany Johnson opened the scoring for the Maroons with a layup at the 19:25 mark, but the Marlins tied the score at two about a minute later. Johnson again scored for the Maroons, giving the six-seed the lead for good. The Maroons would score 10 of the game's first 12 points and then would take their largest lead of the half, nine points at 13-4, with 13:12 left on a
Torri Bridge three-pointer.
With about seven minutes left in the half, the Marlins drained back-to-back three pointers to trim Roanoke's lead to just three, 15-12. The Maroons, however, ended the half on an 8-2 run to make the score 23-14 at the break. Johnson scored her sixth point in the run and senior point guard
Veronica Kelly hit a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer to give the Maroons the nine-point halftime edge.
The Maroons allowed the Marlins to make just five first half field goals on 29 attempts, 17.2 percent. The Maroons, meanwhile, shot 41.7 percent from the field in the first half of play.
Sophomore
Erin Hanson opened the second half with an 'old-fashion' three-point play to give the Maroons their largest lead to that point, 26-14. Roanoke, however, would score just three points over the next six minutes, allowing the Marlins to close the lead to just three, 29-26.
Cindy McGraw and
Lindsay Reynolds hit back-to-back three to help get Roanoke's lead back to seven, 35-28, but again the Marlins had an answer. A Heather Phillips three-pointer with 11:55 left in the game capped a 6-0 VWC run, making the score 35-34 Roanoke's way.
The Maroon defense again clamped down, giving up just two points over the next six minutes. In that time Roanoke put the game out of reach, extending its lead to 13 points, 51-38.
Maria Migliarese got the run going with a 10-foot jumper from the wing on a fastbreak.
Ashley Nesbit was also a spark during the run, scoring four points, the first two off of an offensive rebound, and adding an assist. Moments after VWC cut the lead to 11, Nesbit scored her fifth and sixth points on a Johnson assist to give the Maroons a 53-40 lead with 4:45 showing on the clock.
The Maroons scored 11 of their final 13 points from the free throw line to ice the win. In all, the Maroons made 19 of their 23 free throw attempts. Hanson had her sixth double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and adding 12 rebounds. Reynolds finished with a season-best three three-pointers made.
Roanoke vs. Virginia Wesleyan Box Score
