Posted: Feb 28, 2009
SALEM, Va. --- Roanoke College fell to Bridgewater, 69-58 in the ODAC Semifinals at the Salem Civic Center on Saturday afternoon. The loss dropped the Maroons to 23-4 with the Eagles advancing to their second-straight ODAC Title game with a 17-10 mark.
Bridgewater dominated in the paint, outscoring Roanoke, 34-14 in the paint and scored 20 points off of a season-high 24 turnovers by the Maroons. The Eagles held Roanoke to 31.3-percent shooting on the day, forcing the Maroons into 24 turnovers. Bridgewater enjoyed a 34-14 advantage in points in the paint with its bench out-scoring that of the Maroons, 14-4.
Roanoke jumped out to an early 10 lead with Gholson notching seven early points down in the post. Bianca Booker got the Eagles on the scoreboard at the 15:47 mark. That bucket started an 18-8 run to pull Bridgewater even at 18-18 with 7:57 to go in the half.
Jenkins dropped in a pair of three-pointers to quench Roanoke's dry spell, providing it with a six-point edge at 24-18. Gholson canned a foul line jumper, but jumpers by Kristin Bosserman and Brittani Criss made the score 26-22 in Roanoke's favor with 2:39 showing on the clock.
After Jordan Burkholder and Marcy Conner traded lay-ups, Bosserman drew Bridgewater to within two at 30-28 sending the two squads into the half.
Neither team could muster much offense at the outset of the second half, but Bridgewater did scratch out a three-point lead at 35-32. Jenkins leveled the score with her third three-pointer on the Maroons ensuing possession, but a quick lay-up by Lambert prompted Roanoke into a timeout at the 15:33 mark.
Both squads traded buckets over the next few possessions with BC opening a four-point lead. Jenkins cashed-in another three-pointer to cut the deficit to one, but Saunders equaled her bid, knocking down her third shot from behind the arc to put the Eagles back up four with 13:30 to play.
Osborne continued the long-distance dialing with her first three to make the score 44-43 BC. Caitlyn Long opened her account with the second of two free throws to tie the score at 44-44 with 9:34 on the clock.
Osborne continued her assert herself on offense, hitting a long jumper and a pair of free throws to tie the score for the sixth time in the half at 48-48. Following a steal and lay-in by Lambert, Saunders again found the net from deep, pushing BC ahead, 53-48, with 5:16 to play.
Jordan Gholson and Erin Jenkins finished with 17 points apiece to lead Roanoke. Gholson was 5-of-5 from the free-throw line along with seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Her 14 blocks set a new ODAC Tournament record.
Jenkins connected on 5-of-9 three-pointers along with four assists and two blocked shots. She currently has 52 three-pointers on the year, which is eighth on the single-season list. The senior forward is seventh all-time in career three-pointers made with 96.
Jaleesa Osborne finished with 11 points, six assists and four steals. Her 208 career steals, passed Kay Caldwell ‘94 for fifth all-time. She needs two more this season to move into 10th in single-season steals (70).
Jennifer Saunders led all scorers with 22 points in addition to five rebounds and four assists. Emileigh Lambert had 11 points and four steals while Rebecca Henderson had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
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