Roanoke is 26-3 all-time vs. the Generals, but W&L has split with the Maroons during the last three seasons with the Generals. Prior to 2005, the Maroons won the first 21 meetings vs. W&L. The Maroons won the first meeting of the season, 61-57. The Maroons avenged their home loss by taking a win on the Generals' home floor, 60-44 to split the season series for a third-straight year.

 

The Maroons took a 27-24 lead at the half, as senior Erin Hanson paced the Maroons with nine points and seven rebounds, including her first block of the season. The second half remained close as the Generals took a 35-34 lead off a Bethany Ridenhour lay-up with 13:32 remaining.

 

The Maroons pulled away from that point, going on a 21-2 run over the next nine minutes to earn their fourth win in a row and their eighth of their last nine games. Sophomore Lindsay Skaff came off the bench to hit back-to-back three-pointers to spark the second half surge. Fellow Sophomore Caitlyn Long scored a layup to cap the run as the Maroons built a 21-point lead, 57-36 with 4:21 remaining.

 

The Maroons pulled away late in the second half as the Maroons bench started to make an impact, led by freshman Jordan Gholson, who scored nine of her 13 points in the second half. She also pulled down six rebounds and shot 5-of-6 from the free throw line. They held a 22-10 advantage off the bench.

 

Roanoke shot 45-percent in the second half, 43-percent from beyond the arc as they outscored the Generals, 33-20 in the second half. The Maroons won the rebounding battle, 41-33 and outscored the General s, 25-10 off turnovers, 26-16 in the paint and 12-7 in second chance points.

 

Kristen Krouchick led all scorers with 16 points in addition to eight rebounds for the Generals while her teammate Ridenhour chipped in 12 points. Long had 10 points and three steals for the Maroons.

 

The Maroons are 47-20 all-time against Eastern Mennonite since 1976. From 1988-02, the Maroons lost only twice to the Royals posting a 33-2 record during that span. Since then, the Royals have a 8-4 record, including five of their last six games. The Maroons worst defeat to the Royals came back before the Dunagan era in 1978-79, 58-40. Their largest margin of victory came during the 1990-91 season, 97-50. Both meetings were close games as they were decided by a combined five points. The Royals won at home, 77-74 and a last second shot defeated the Maroons, 57-55 on senior night.

 

The women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to Eastern Mennonite, 57-55 at the Bast Center on Friday evening. The loss dropped the Maroons to 14-10 overall and 12-7 in the ODAC. The Royals improved to 19-5, 15-4 in the ODAC.

 

It was the last game played at the Bast Center for seniors Torri Bridge, Erin Hanson and Sara Keller who were honored before the game. The three-players are tri-captains and have combined for 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 250 steals over their last four years. They have a four-year record of 62-42 and 47-32 record in the ODAC.

 

With seven seconds remaining and the game tied at 55-apiece, EMU scored off their own missed bucket with .4 seconds left to win their eighth game on the road this season (8-2). They have now won five of the last six meetings against Roanoke.   There were nine ties and 12 lead changes on the evening.

 

Eastern Mennonite shot 40.4% from the floor, 52% in the second half in large part due to their deadly outside shooting (5-of-8 from beyond the arc in the second half) to win their 15th ODAC game of the season. They also shot 80% from the line and were 44% from the three-point line, led by Brittany Snyder who went 3-for-5 from downtown.

 

The Royals outscored the Maroons, 24-20 in the paint and 21-15 off the bench. The women outrebounded EMU, 42-33 and 16-6 in second chance points.

 

Both teams shot below 30-percent in the first half, as there were 19 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Down five with four minutes to play in the half, the Maroons went on an 8-2 run as Hanson drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with six seconds left to give her team a 22-21 lead at the half.

 

The momentum carried over into the second half as they jumped out to a nine-point lead. Caitlyn Long and Jordan Gholson sparked the second half run, scoring nine points within three minutes during the 14-2 run. Bridge capped the run with a lay-up with 10:47 remaining to make the score, 41-32 as EMU called timeout.

 

The Maroons held the lead until Ebony Dennis hit a three in the corner to give the Royals a 53-51 lead with :54 seconds remaining which capped a 10-2 mini-run.

 

Roanoke gave the ball to their All-American as Hanson scored the next two baskets to tie the game twice, including a tough jumper in the lane with eight seconds left to tie the contest at 55-all.

 

Dennis dribbled down and shot a jumper in the short corner and missed, but Jolene Kratz was there to tip it in for the game-winner and the Royals 18th victory.

 

Hanson finished with her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. She is currently fourth all-time in scoring (1,413) and moved up two spots in rebounding to fourth as well (724). He blocked shot puts her at eighth with 56 for her career. Her three steals tonight gives her 159 which places her ninth on that list.

 

Long finished with eight points, four rebounds and two assists. Her two three-pointers moves her into the top-10 single-season list with 43. She currently has 72 three's for a career which places her ninth. Gholson had eight points and two blocked shots, which ties her for fifth in single-season blocks with 42. Jaleesa Osborne's three steals tonight surpassed her freshman total with 67 on the year. She needs three more to enter the top-10 single-season steals list. She entered the top-10 list for steals in a career with 130 over two seasons.

 

Keller had seven points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots which tied her career-high. Over the last three games, Keller has averaged 7.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, one block and one steal during that stretch.

 

EMU was led by Dennis with 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Snyder had 13 points, four rebounds and three assists to pace the Royals.

SALEM, Va. --- Sophomore Jordan Gholson recorded her first career double-double in the 61-60 victory over Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon at the C. Homer Bast Center. The Maroons improved to 9-2 overall and 5-2 in the ODAC. The Marlins, who were previously undefeated in the conference, dropped to 9-3 and 6-1. 

The 9-2 record ties for the best start for the Maroons since 1998-99 season. The 61-60 decision provided sweet revenge for the 63-60 season-ending loss to the Marlins in the 2007-08 ODAC semifinal game.

 

Gholson, the team leader in scoring, had 18 points and 10 rebounds in her sixth game in double-figures this season. She also recorded six blocks to tie her career-high and moved her into sixth on the all-time career list at Roanoke. She passed Sarah Dingledine '00 (71) with 73 career blocks.

  

Roanoke out-rebounded VWC 37-34 and had an advantage in points off turnovers (12-11), points in the paint (36-22), and bench points (12-4). The Marlins outscored the Maroons 14-12 off of second chance points. Roanoke improved in the second half as it shot 51.7% from the field.

 

Gholson hit a jumper to open the scoring. Virginia Wesleyan's Jill Weston responded with a three pointer to take a 3-2 lead. The Marlins then went on a 4-0 run to increase the lead to three.

 

At the 14:09 minute mark, Roanoke answered with a 7-0 run to make the score 11-7. Two Marlin layups tied the game at 11 with 9:58 left in the half. Three more ties ensued before Caitlyn Long drained a three pointer to give Roanoke a 24-21 lead with 2:15 remaining. Kristina Jameson added three points for the Marlins and Long answered with a jumper. The Maroon lead was brief as Jordan Neville scored on a tip-in to tie the score 26-26 before the half.

 

Jaleesa Osborne scored first in the second half followed by a layup from Long to give Roanoke a five point edge (31-26). The Maroons maintained the lead until 14:43 when Tonia Jones banked in a layup. 

Two-pointers from Gholson and VWC's Jocelyn Spencer made the score 41-39 VWC. Virginia Anne Hagood swished a three pointer with 12:43 remaining to give Roanoke a one point advantage (42-41). 

 

The Maroons upheld the lead until the 6:04 mark when Jill Weston hit one from downtown for three points. Tied at 52, senior Erin Jenkins connected from three-point territory to give the women a three point edge. Andrea Ushinski retaliated by scoring one of VWC's six threes of the half.

 

Gholson scored her sixth layup of the night with 2:52 left to play to make the score 57-55. The Marlins connected on a three pointer from Jameson and a shot from inside the paint from Jones for a three point lead. Gholson sealed the game for the Maroons as she sank two free-throws and a layup with forty seconds on the clock. Roanoke's defense held the Marlins as time expired.

 

Ushinski led the Marlins with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Also scoring in double-figures for VWC was Jones with 11.  Maggie Smith added 12 points, five rebounds and three assists before fouling out with 1:26 left to play.  Jones and Smith combined for eight boards.

 

Long was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc in the victory to move her into sixth place all time in three pointers made. She is also six in three pointers attempted with 286. Hagood tied her season-high of seven rebounds.

 

 Scouting the Royals

The Royals are 10-3 overall and 5-3 in the ODAC as they went 2-1 last week with wins over E&H and Guilford.  Danielle Scott averaged 12.3 points per game. She shot 53 percent from the floor for the week (17-of-32) as she registered double-figure scoring totals in all three games. Scott capped the week with a 14 point, 10 rebound performance against Guilford. The women dropped an additional ODAC contest to Washington & Lee on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 71-69. Scott led the Royals with 16 points and eight rebounds. Ebony Dennis recorded her third double-double in the loss (11 pts, 11 rebs). Brittany Snyder is the team's leading scorer 14.9 ppg. Dennis leads the Royals with 8.7 rpg and 40 steals.

 

The Generals are on a three-game win streak after they fell to Virginia Wesleyan, 64-49. W&L knocked off Lynchburg, 94-77, and Randolph, 75-58, and Eastern Mennonite, 71-69. Four Generals posted double digits in the scoring column vs. LC, led by first-year guard Rebecca Bolton, who registered her second double-double of the season with a career-high 29 points and 10 rebounds. First-year guard Meghan Ingram leads the team in scoring (16.1 ppg) and scored a game-high 26 in a 75-58 victory over Randolph. Senior Kara Nadeau led the Generals with a season-high 14 points and a season-high tying 11 rebounds against VWC. She is the team leader in rebounds with 7.3 rpg.

 

Roanoke, 9-2, 5-2 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, who were ranked #11 in the country at that time. VWC had been the only remaining undefeated team in ODAC play. Caitlin Long averaged 14 points and four rebounds per game in three ODAC games last week. She shot 7-of-12 from three-point range (58.3%) in addition to seven assists and three steals. Jordan Gholson is the leading scorer (11.7 ppg) and rebounder (6.8 rpg) for the Maroons. Junior Jaleesa Osborne is the team's second leading scorer averaging 11.5 ppg. She also leads the team in steals (29), free throw percentage (90.3%), and assists (34).

 

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, just passing Sarah Dingledine '00. She needs two more to move past Cindy McGraw ('07) and Jennie Schafer ('05) for fifth.

 

Jaleesa Osborne's 174 career steals rank her eighth on the top-10 list at Roanoke and needs 10 to tie Marcee Hufton '96 for seventh. Her 209 career assists are only 26 away from entering the top-10 in that category.