SALEM, Va. --- Roanoke built a 42-18 first-half lead en route to a 64-49 win over Eastern Mennonite in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon. The Maroons head into the post-season with a 22-2 overall record, 19-1 in the ODAC. The Royals dropped to 15-9, 11-9 in conference play.

 

Before the game, seniors Caitlyn Long (Roanoke, VA, Cave Spring), Jaleesa Osborne (Ordinary, VA, Gloucester)and Lindsay Skaff (Charleston, WV, Charleston Catholic)were recognized before the game on senior day. This group has won back-to-back ODAC Regular Season Championships and have compiled a four-year mark of 77-28 (.733). A moment of silence was given to recent Roanoke College graduate and basketball office assistant/manager, Madee Boxler, who lost her battle with cancer early this week.

 

The Maroons, currently ranked second in the latest NCAA Div. III South Region Rankings, won its 14^th-straight game. It's the longest since the 1996-97 season (22). The win against Eastern Mennonite was #50 for head coach Susan Dunagan. It's the third opponent that the legendary coach has won 50 or more games against (Hollins -56; Lynchburg -55).

 

For the game, Roanoke shot 43.4% while holding EMU to 29.3%. The Maroons outrebounded the Royals, 37-34 and outscored them, 20-6 in the paint.

 

The Maroons blistered the nets in the first 20 minutes of action, hitting 55.2% from the floor compared to 20.7% by the Royals which led to the 24-point halftime advantage.

 

The Royals took an early 6-3 lead before Roanoke exploded with a 26-6 run to give them an 18-point lead with 7:02 remaining in the first half. EMU scored the next five points before the Maroons finished the half on an 11-2 run to give them a comfortable lead heading into the locker room.

 

EMU came out firing in the second half, going on a 16-5 run to cut it to 13 with 10:39 remaining. The Royals hit four three-pointers during that span. 

 

The Royals cut it to 12 before the Maroons pulled away, scoring the next eight points to take a 60-40 lead with five minutes remaining.

 

The senior class combined for 35 points in their final game at the Bast Center.  Osborne, who poured in 16 points, hitting 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. She added four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Skaff finished with a season-best 12 points and tied a career-high 4-of-6 from three-point range. Long had seven points, three rebounds and three assists.

 

The 1-2 inside punch played well, which was key in the win. Jordan Gholson (Louisa, VA, Louisa County)had 11 points and seven rebounds along with two blocked shots. Nicci Moats (Blue Ridge, VA, Lord Botetourt)added nine points with seven rebounds and four blocks. Kylie Lucas (Verona, VA, Fort Defiance)tossed in nine makers and dished out a season-best four assists with two steals.

 

Danielle Rittenhouse led EMU with a game-best 17 points and four rebounds. Brittany Snyder added 11 counters.  Melissa Lewis had seven points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals. Sara Lamneck finished with six points, seven boards and three assists.

 

The women, who are the #1 seed in the ODAC Tournament will play against the #8 seed at the Salem Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. If they advance, the Maroons will square off against the #4/#5 seed winner Saturday, Feb. 27 at 1 p.m.

 

Check out more information on Roanoke's new athletics website at http://maroons.roanoke.edu/.  The website features top stories, scores, stats, photo galleries, archive information and much more.  Make sure to sign up for text alerts to get athletic updates sent right to your phone. You can sign up by going to the athletics homepage and click “Get Text Alerts” on the right.

Did you know you can view all home games live online?  Click on the “Watch Games Live” ad from the athletics homepage to get live webcasts of each home athletic scheduled event. You can also access live stats for each home event and select away games by clicking our “Live Stats” link on the athletic homepage. To keep up to date with Maroon athletics from your mobile phone or PDA, please visit m.roanoke.edu/sports.