LYNCHBURG - The Roanoke College women's basketball team fell in a nail biter to Lynchburg College on Tuesday evening, 68-67 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action. The Maroons now have a record of 8-9, 4-5 in ODAC play, while the Hornets sit with a mark of 10-7, 8-1 in the ODAC.

Paxton Gwin led the Maroons in scoring with 19 points. With her scoring on the evening, she is currently tied for 10^th in all-time scoring at Roanoke College, sitting along side Caitlyn Long '10 who scored 1,190 points in her career. Gwin is tied for second in the ODAC for scoring, netting 18.6 points per game.

The Hornets came out of the gates hot in the first half, as a layup from Lauren Penley and five consecutive points from Chaney Forbush gave Lynchburg a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes of play. After three Gwin free throws, the Hornets scored five more points to take a nine-point 12-3 lead with 14:42 in the half. Gwin scored four more points for the Maroons, followed by two points from Kanisha Wiley and and four from Markia Beckwith to put Roanoke on a 10-3 run.

Roanoke took its first lead of the game with 9:33 to play in the first half, as Kelsey Smith drained a three pointer off of a pass from Tatum McKee. Over the next four minutes, the two teams saw four lead changes as, after a pair of free throws from McKee, the Maroons took a 23-21 lead with 4:22 left in the half. Lynchburg's Katie Reeves hit back to back three-pointers, pushing the Hornets ahead by four. Roanoke responded with a 7-0 run, spurred by a Meghan Gadell trey. The Maroons finished the half with a one-point, 33-32 lead.

In the first two minutes of the second frame, Roanoke scored five points to Lynchburg's two, giving the Maroons a four-point lead. After the Hornets tied the game at 38-38, Hankins hit a three pointer to reclaim the lead for Roanoke. The Maroons continued to hold the lead, building its largest lead of the game of eight points, 52-44 off of a Hankins three-pointer with 14:29 left to play. The Hornets started to cut at their defect, going on a 7-2 run over the next two minutes.

With 10:19 to play in the contest, Katie Reeves hit a three-pointer for Lynchburg that started a 9-0 run that lasted four minutes and gave the Hornets a five-point lead. Gwin and Smith hit back to back baskets for the Maroons, pulling the team within one. Roanoke trailed by three with 5:10 on the clock, but Gwin tallied four points, while Hankins dropped in two, as the Maroons pulled ahead 67-64 with 2:30 to play. Forbush and Penley scored the next two baskets fro Lynchburg, taking the 68-67 lead. The Maroons took timely fouls at the end of the contest, resulting in missed free throws from Lynchburg. Laurel Hankins had a defensive rebound off of a Lynchburg free throw, taking a three-pointer at the buzzer, but it didn't fall. Roanoke was narrowly defeated by Lynchburg on Tuesday, 68-67.

Laurel Hankins finished in double-digits as well for Roanoke, scoring 13 points. Tatum McKee led the Maroons in rebounds, pulling down eight boards to go along with her nine points. Kelsey Smith also finished with nine points on the evening.

Roanoke shot 38.7 percent from the field, compared to Lynchburg's 42.4 percent. The two teams shot evenly from the free throw line as the Hornets shot 66.7 percent to Roanoke's 65.0 percent from the stripe. Lynchburg also held the advantage in both rebounds (48-36) as well as assists (20-12).

The Maroons return to action on Saturday, February 1 as they travel to Winchester, VA to take on Shenandoah University. That contest is scheduled for a 2:00 PM start.

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