Roanoke currently owns a 53-28 series advantage against Bridgewater since 1970. It is the longest rivalry in school-history for Roanoke as they will meet for the 82^nd time. The Maroons have won the last six meetings after dropping the previous eight.

 

BRIDGEWATER, Va. --- Roanoke held off a late second-half run by Bridgewater to defeat the Eagles, 60-49 at Nininger Hall Tuesday evening. The Maroons remained undefeated at 5-0, 2-0 in ODAC play while the Eagles dropped to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

 

With the win, the Maroons are 5-0 for the first time since 1997-98 and have the second-best start in school history. They are tied with the 1987-88 team and need only one more win to tie the school-record held by the 1997-98 team (6-0).

 

The Maroons are 53-28 all-time against Bridgewater and have won the last six meetings.

 

Roanoke jumped out to an 8-0 lead as Bridgewater called timeout just three minutes into the game as Jordan Gholson and Jaleesa Osborne had four points each to start the game.

 

After the Eagles went on a 6-0 run to close it to within two, Caitlyn Long hit a three-pointer to spark a 9-0 run over the next four minutes to make it 17-6 at the 10 minute mark.

 

After Bridgewater's Jean Willi called timeout, the Eagles calmed down and outscored Roanoke, 9-7 to go into the half with the score, 24-16. It was the third time this season the Maroon defense has held their opponent to less than 20 first-half points.

 

Roanoke opened the second half with a 10-0 run to make the score 34-16 with 16-minutes remaining. Gholson, Long and Osborne carried the scoring load during the run to pull away from the Eagles.

 

Bridgewater had a 12-4 run to close it to within 12 with 11-minutes remaining. The run was sparked by offensive rebounds and put backs to close in on the Maroon lead.

 

The Eagles continued to chip away at the Roanoke lead. Offensive rebounding and put backs continued for Bridgewater as they got within four, 53-49 off a Jordan Burkholder layup with 2:13 remaining as Roanoke called timeout.

 

An Osborne jumper along with Gholson and Long's made free-throws gave the Maroons a 59-49 lead with less than a minute to go. On the Eagles next possession, Kristin Bossermans' three-pointer was blocked by Erin Jenkins as Gholson pulled down the rebound as the Maroons ran out the clock.

 

Osborne led Roanoke with 14 points, five rebounds and three steals along with 7-of-9 from the floor. Jenkins had 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists while Long finished with nine points, four rebounds and a career-high eight assists. Gholson finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. 

 

SALEM, Va. --- Jenkins connected on six three-pointers to help Roanoke overcome a six-point halftime deficit in a 68-50 defeat over Eastern Mennonite in ODAC Women's Basketball Action Saturday evening at the Bast Center. The victory improved the women's record to 11-2 overall and 7-2 in the ODAC. The Royals fell to 10-4 and 5-4 in the conference.

 

Jenkins recorded a career-high of 24 points and added four assists, five rebounds in the victory. She went 6-for-9 from beyond the arc for a career-high of six three-pointers. Jenkins six treys rank her third all-time in three-pointers made in a single-game behind Marcee Hufton '96 (7) with Toree Morris with the record with eight (2/14/98 vs. W&L).

 

The Maroons rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit and finished the contest outscoring the Royals, 36-8 in the final 18 minutes of the game.

 

The 11-2 record is the best start for the Maroons since 1998-99 season (12-2). The 68-50 decision was Roanoke's 55^th win over EMU and broke a two-game losing streak against the Royals.

 

Roanoke shot 20 percent from three point range and 48.1 percent from the field in the first period to 72.7 percent and 53.6 percent respectively in the second half. The Royals went from 66.7 percent beyond the arc and 46.4 percent from the field in the first half to 20 percent in both categories during the second period. 

 

The Maroons out-rebounded EMU 33-30 which aided in the 22-16 advantage from points in the paint. Roanoke also held an 8-2 edge in fast break points which contributed to their 11 point difference in points off turnovers (19-8). The Royals outscored the Maroons in bench points (7-6) and in second chance points (12-10).

 

Eastern Mennonite jumped out first with a three pointer from Brittany Snyder only to be answered with a two pointer from Erin Jenkins. Snyder then drained another trey before an additional Jenkins jumper cut the Royals lead (6-4) to two at 18:07.

 

Melissa Lewis started an eight point run for EMU when she sank one from behind the arc at the 14:17 minute mark. Lewis followed her three by hitting the front and back end at the line. Snyder then hit her fourth three of the half to give EMU the largest lead of the half (20-10) with 11:53 remaining.

 

The Royals upheld their lead throughout the rest of the period despite both teams volleying back in forth in shots made. Roanoke managed to decrease the lead (36-30) to six after Jordan Gholson tipped in a rebound with 0:24 seconds remaining in the half.

 

Snyder drained her fifth three pointer of the night just nine seconds into the second half to give EMU a nine point lead (39-30). Gholson responded with a lay-up only to be outdone again with a bucket and free throw from Miranda Wolfe to make it 42-34 at the 18:03 minute mark. 

 

The Royal lead stood around eight until Jenkins connected from beyond the arc to bring the Maroons within five at 16:32. Several minutes later, Virginia Anne Hagood made a two-pointer followed by another trey from Jenkins to give Roanoke the first and final lead (48-44) of the night.

 

EMU cut the Roanoke lead to two (48-46) with 11:27 remaining but with the momentum on Roanoke's side, the Maroons slowly pulled away.

 

Back-to-back three pointers fromLindsay Skaff and Caitlyn Long increased the lead (63-46) to 17 with 7:40 left in the half.   Snyder hit her final three-pointer of the contest at 5:10 to make it, 63-49, but the deficit was too large for the Royals.

 

Hagood made a basket for two at the 4:40 minute mark followed by a Wolfe free throw. Jenkins put the icing on the cake with her sixth and final three pointer of the game with 1:10 left to play to make the final score 68-50.

 

Osborne recorded a career-high nine assists for fourth all time in assists in a single game. She needs seven more steals to tie Marcee Hufton '96 for seventh all-time.

 

Gholson tied Long as the team's second leading scorer with 12 points. She also pulled down 10 boards for her second career double-double. Long contributed five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

 

Roanoke, 11-2, 7-2 ODAC, upset Virginia Wesleyan, 61-60, a day following a 30-point loss to Randolph-Macon, RC's worst loss since 2005 to the Yellow Jackets. R-MC were ranked #11 in the country at that time. VWC had been the only remaining undefeated team in ODAC play at the time. Gholson is the leading scorer (11.8 ppg) and rebounder (6.8 rpg) for the Maroons.  Osborneis the team's second leading scorer averaging 11.2 ppg. She also leads the team in steals (32), free throw percentage (90.9%), and assists (49). They defeated Washington & Lee, 71-68 Friday evening. Long is third in scoring (9.9 ppg), assists (37) and second in steals with 21. In the last five games, Long has averaged 13.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. In addition, Long is shooting 48% from beyond the arc (12-25) during that span.

 

Bridgewater (8-6, 6-3 ODAC) has been on a roll, winning six of the last seven games since coming back from the holiday break.  Rebecca Henderson is averaging 7.3 points along with a team-high 31 blocked shots and 6.8 rebounds per game.  Sophomore guard Jordan Burkholder is averaging 13.4 points per game, along with 35 assists and 49 steals to lead the Eagles. Jennifer Saunders, who is averaging 10.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, is shooting 91.2% from the free-throw line to lead the team.

 

Jordan Gholson has recorded a school-record five first-half blocked shots and notched her 28^th block of the season to tie Karen Jenkins ('90) for tenth on the top-10 single-season mark.  Her 73 career blocked shots has moved her up to seventh on the all-time list. She needs only two more to move past Cindy McGraw ('07) and Jennie Schafer ('05) for fifth.

 

Jaleesa Osborne's 169 career steals rank her eighth on the career steals list at Roanoke and needs 15 to tie Marcee Hufton '96 for seventh. Her 215 career assists are only 20 away from entering the top-10 in that category. Caitlyn Long has 95 career three-pointers made, which is currently fifth on the list. Her 291 career three-poin­t attempts rank her seventh at Roanoke.