SALEM, VA- In the highest scoring game in the history of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament, the Roanoke College women's basketball team bounced fourth-seeded Bridgewater College with a 98-90 victory on Friday at the Salem Civic Center. The Maroons improve to 16-10 overall with the win, which was their third over the Eagles this season. The Maroons also end a three-game losing streak to Bridgewater in the ODAC tournament. Bridgewater had eliminated Roanoke from the postseason in each of the last three seasons. Bridgewater's season ends with a 17-9 overall record. Roanoke plays Randolph-Macon at 6:00pm on Saturday in the ODAC semifinals.
Hot shooting was the key to the Maroons building themselves a 16-point halftime lead. The Maroons made 18 of their 27 field goal attempts in the first half. Roanoke's lead first hit double-digits just five minutes into the game. On a
Jaleesa Osborne 17-foot jumper, the Maroons took a 17-7 lead.
Torri Bridge followed with two free throws and Roanoke's lead was 12. Much later in the half, the Eagles were able to close within four points, 41-37, on two Amy Childs foul shots. Osborne countered with a layup,
Brittany Johnson scored in the paint, and
Sara Keller did the same and Roanoke's lead was back to 10. With just under a minute to play Keller put in a stick-back layup, and with less than 40 seconds left
Erin Hanson and
Cindy McGraw each made two free throws and Roanoke's halftime lead was 16.
After building as much as a 23-point lead in the second half, the Maroons allowed the Eagles back into the game. The Eagles went to a full court press and in the span of just two minutes midway through the half, forced five Roanoke turnovers. That allowed the Eagles to trim Roanoke's lead to 11 points, 77-66, on a Jessica Young offensive rebound and layup with 9:46 to play. On the next Roanoke possession,
Erin Jenkins stopped the 14-4 Bridgewater run with the third of her four threes. Roanoke's lead was 80-66. After the Eagles cut the lead to 10, Jenkins again had an answer, hitting her fourth three, that with 6:55 left.
Bridgewater was able to get with just five points, 88-83, with 2:41 left in the game. The Maroons held the Eagles off by scoring their final 13 points from the free throw line.
Erin Jenkins came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points, 12 coming on three-point attempts. She went 4-for-6 from three-point range and also added three free throws. Despite going just 1-for-11 from the field, ODAC Player of the Year
Erin Hanson scored 16 points and established a new career-high with 16 rebounds. Her 14 free throws made were the third most in a tournament game.
Jaleesa Osborne had 12 points,
Torri Bridge 14 points, three assists, and three steals, and
Cindy McGraw 10 points and four assists. McGraw made all eight of her free throw attempts.
Marcy Conner came off the bench to score seven points on two baskets and three free throws.
Sara Keller had six points and two rebounds, while
Ashley Nesbit tallied four points and two rebounds. The Maroons shot 51.9 percent from the field in the win, their best shooting night of the year.
In the win, the Maroons set a season-high with 55 points in the first half of play. The team's previous high was a 53-point second half effort in a road win over Randolph-Macon in December. Roanoke's 98 points were also the second most it has scored in a tournament game, behind only a 103-point game in the 1987 quarterfinals, one better than a 1984 97-point game. The 98 points were also the most the Maroons have scored in a game since beating Emory & Henry 101-94, in overtime, during the 1995-96 season.
Roanoke vs. Bridgewater Box Score
