Posted: Jan 25, 2014
The loss to the Yellow Jackets snaps the Maroons win-streak which topped out at six victories. It was the most consecutive wins for Roanoke since the 2009-10 season.
Paxton Gwin scored a season high 28 points in the loss, shooting 52.9 percent from the field. Her points today move her into 11th in all-time scoring at Roanoke, with a total of 1,171. She passes Mary Beth Harvey '84 for 11th place, and is now just 20 points from passing Caitlyn Long '10 who is currently in 10th place with 1,190 points. Gwin also had her third double-double of the year with 10 rebounds, also dishing out four assists with one block and one steal.
Both teams came out of the gates hot in the first half. Roanoke jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the first minute, with back-to-back threes from Gwin and Kelsey Smith to open with a 6-0 advantage. Through the first three minutes, Roanoke continued its six-point lead, as it had a six point, 12-6 advantage, with more baskets from Gwin and Tatum McKee. A pair of free throws from Laurel Hankins and a trey from McKee gave Roanoke its largest lead at that point, 17-10, with 16:05 to play in the half. The Yellow Jackets went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 17-17, but the Maroons quickly responded with an 11-5 to reclaim the lead, and go back ahead by seven. At the 7:55 mark, Roanoke had its largest lead of the game of nine points, as Gwin hit a layup to increase the advantage to 36-27.
With 2:51 in the first half, Khajae Hester hit a pair of free throws to give Randolph-Macon its first lead of the game, but Roanoke reclaimed the lead at 2:11 with a Hankins three-pointer. The Maroons finished out the first half on a Smith free throw, as they entered the locker room with a 57-54 lead. With baskets from Hankins and Wiley, Roanoke pulled within two 72-70 with 13:39 to play.
Taylor Huber of Randolph-Macon immediately hit a three-pointer to open the second half and tie the game at 57-57. Huber hit a jumper just a few moments later to give the Yellow Jackets a two point advantage. Roanoke got the lead back with 18:12 on the clock as Hankins hit a layup. Huber hit a pair of free throws to reclaim the lead just a few moments later. The Yellow Jackets went on an 8-3 run to make its lead five points, 70-65 with 15:06 to play. With baskets from Hankins and Wiley, Roanoke pulled within two 72-70 with 13:39 on the clock.
The Yellow Jackets spent the next three minutes on a 12-2 run, going ahead 84-74 after a Sarah Parsons layup. The Yellow Jackets went up by 14 with seven minutes to play after a Stephanie Staples free throw as the Maroons trailed 92-78. Hankins hit a jumper with 4:24 left bring the Maroons back within nine, but Randolph-Macon was able to build its lead to 17 by the end of the game, as the Roanoke fell 110-93 in ODAC play.
Laurel Hankins tied a season high 22 points in the game, shooting 50 percent from the field. She also finished with five rebounds. Tatum McKee tied Kelsey Smith with 13 points, with McKee pulling down nine rebounds. She also had two steals. Smith also acquired two steals.
The Yellow Jackets outshot the Maroons 46.1 to 38.3 from the field, as well as holding the 82.1 to 70.0 percent advantage at the free throw line. Randolph-Macon narrowly held the rebounding advantage 51-50, while the Maroons led in assists 11-7.
The Maroons return to action on Tuesday, January 28th as they travel to face Lynchburg College. That contest is scheduled for a 7:00 PM start.
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