Harrisonburg, Va. --- The women's basketball team fell in a tight game at Eastern Mennonite, 77-74 on Friday evening. The Lady Royals, who are winners of six-straight, improved to 7-2 on the year and 3-1 in the ODAC while the Maroons drop to 4-5 overall; 2-3 in the ODAC.
The women showed a lot of heart with limited players, playing without starting forwards Erin Hanson and Jordan Gholson due to injuries. Sophomore Caitlyn Long led Roanoke with 19 points, four rebounds and three assists while shooting 7-of-12 from the floor. Torri Bridge tied her career-high with 15 points to pace the Maroons.
As a team, the women shot a season-high 52-percent from the floor, including 40-percent from beyond the arc.
EMU entered halftime with a 37-34 lead following a jumper by Jolene Kratz with less than a minute remaining. Bridge,
Erin Jenkins and Long carried the scoring load with a combined 30 points in the first half. The Maroons shot 47-percent from the floor to keep them within three at the half.
The Lady Royals would extend their lead to eight, 47-39 which was the largest lead of the game for both teams with 17:25 to play.
The second half would see key points coming off the Roanoke bench to chip away at the EMU lead. They eventually tied the game at 50-apeice after a three-pointer by sophomore Lindsey Skaff to cap a 13-5 run with 10:30 remaining.
A jumper by Long gave the Maroons their first lead of the second half, 54-52 at the 11-minute mark. Sophomore
Jaleesa Osborne gave the Maroons a three-point lead, 69-66 with 4:19 left on back-to-back layups . Free throws by Riley and an eventual layup by senior guard Tara Jones shifted the lead back to EMU at 70-69.
Senior forward
Sara Keller tied the game for the tenth time on a free-throw with 1:37 left to make the score, 74-74.
Two missed Roanoke layups gave the ball back to EMU with 35 seconds left. Riley reached the free throw line after a foul by Roanoke and dropped in both shots to give EMU a 77-74 lead.
The Maroons got the ball back with only two ticks left on the clock but a three-point attempt by Long fell just short to give the Lady Royals their seventh win of the season.
Jenkins ended the day with 11 points and fell just one rebound short of the double-double with nine rebounds which was a career-high. Virginia Anne Hagood tied her career-high with eight points and four boards off the bench for Roanoke which got 17 points overall from their reserves. Keller fared well in her second-straight start with five points, four rebounds and career-highs of four assists and five free-throws.
The Maroons will return to action to begin a six-game home stand on Wednesday, Jan. 9 as they host Christopher Newport. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The Maroons are 8-7 all-time vs. CNU and have not played each other since 1997-98. Roanoke has not defeated the Captains since the 1993-94 season.
