Posted: Mar 05, 2010
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. --- Roanoke never trailed in a 77-66 win over McDaniel in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Christopher Newport University's Freeman Center. The Maroons will advance to the second round with a 24-3 record while the Green Terror ended their season at 20-7.
The Maroons shot a season-high 50.9% from the floor, including a season-best 11 three-pointers (55%) on the night. They held McDaniel to 38.2% shooting, 33.3% from three-point range. Roanoke held the Green Terror to a mere 16.7% (2-of-12) from beyond the arc in the second half.
In its 11th post-season appearance, Roanoke earned its seventh tournament win (7-10). The 77 points scored were the most in an NCAA Tournament game for Roanoke since 1995 (Ferrum, 87-70 NCAA 1st Round).
Roanoke mounted a 24-6 lead to start the game, led by Jordan Gholson (Louisa, VA, Louisa County)with seven points in the first 10 minutes of action.
A second three-pointer by Caitlyn Long (Roanoke, VA, Cave Spring)pushed the Maroons' lead to 31-11, the largest lead of the game with 7:27 left. McDaniel responded after a timeout with a 15-3 run to cut its deficit to eight with three minutes remaining. But a layup by Gholson and a three-pointer by Lindsay Skaff (Charleston, WV, Charleston Catholic)gave the Maroons a 41-29 halftime advantage.
The Maroons shot 7-of-11 from beyond the arc (63.6%) and 60.7% (17-for-28) overall in the first half. They held McDaniel to 34.5% from the floor, but hit 5-of-9 from three-point range.
After a McDaniel basket cut the deficit to 10, Roanoke reeled off nine straight points to extend its lead to 50-31 with 16:06 to play. The Green Terror responded on a 15-6 run to close their deficit to 56-46 with 8:58 left.
McDaniel continued to chip away at the Roanoke lead, with an 11-3 run as Ashley Lyles layup made it 61-57 with 4:21 remaining as head coach Susan Dunagan called timeout.
Rebecca Bays (Roanoke, VA, William Byrd)rattled in a trey from the top of the key after the timeout to extend the Maroons lead to seven to spark an 8-0 run. Gholson, who scored a season-high 22 points, scored the last five points to cap the run and give the Maroons a 12-point advantage with two minutes remaining. Roanoke iced the game late, knocking down all six free throw attempts to earn their first NCAA Tournament win in 10 years.
In addition to Gholson's game-high 22 points, she pulled down six rebounds and shot 8-of-10 overall, 5-of-5 from the line. Jaleesa Osborne (Ordinary, VA, Gloucester)played well in her hometown, scoring 19 points, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc with four assists.
Long and Skaff tossed in 10 points each as Kendra Porter added eight counters, six boards and four assists. Long passed Mary Beth Harvey '84 for ninth on the career scoring list (1,162). She also passed Chandra Forrester (Wyhteville, VA, Rural Retreat)'05 for ninth in career free-throws made with 231. Her 50 three-pointers are tied for 10th on the single-season list.
Katlyn Fisher and Ali Moreland each led McDaniel with 16 points, as both had six and seven rebounds, respectively. Lyles chipped in 14 counters and pulled down six caroms.
The Maroons will play tomorrow in the NCAA Second Round against host Christopher Newport, which is one of only two undefeated teams left in the country (29-0). The Maroons are 11-8 all-time, 8-3 in the “Dunagan-era” against the Captains, but have dropped the last three meetings. The last win was during the 1993-94 season. The two teams last met in the post-season in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, dropping a 77-57 decision to the Captains in the first round.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Freeman Center on the campus of Christopher Newport.
