SALEM - The Roanoke College women's basketball team was narrowly defeated in its opening game of 2015, falling 50-47 to Goucher College in the Bast Center on Saturday evening. The Maroons now have a record of 4-6 on the season, while the Gophers also sit with a mark of 4-6 to the year.

Cary Beahm led the Maroons in scoring on Saturday with 18 points, shooting 8-13 from the field. She tallied seven rebounds as well in the effort. Also in double-figures was Meghan Gadell, who tallied 13 points. She finished hitting 2-4 three pointers, which was half of Roanoke's made shots from behind the arc. Tatum McKee tied Noreen Mulledy for second on the squad in rebounds, pulling down six each during the game. McKee also led the team in assists with five, while Allison Yeaw dished out four.

Both teams had a hard time finding the basket in the opening moments of the first half, as Goucher scored the first points of the game at 16:28. Roanoke scored its first points as Meghan Gadell hit a free throw at 15:07 to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Gophers. Gadell went on to score Roanoke's first six points, Keeping the Maroons within one, 5-4 at the 13:17 mark. Roanoke took its first lead of the game, 10-9 at 9;36 when Ellen Wagner hit a jumper, assisted by Allison Yeaw. Beahm followed up with a jumper of her own to put the Maroons up by three, 9-12. Beam hit a trey at 5:18 to extend Roanoke's lead to four, 17-13. Yeaw and Beahm combined for five more points through the 3:40 mark in the contest, giving Roanoke its largest lead of the half, 22-17. Though, Goucher held Roanoke scoreless through those final three minutes, scoring six points and took a 23-22 lead entering halftime.

Roanoke went on a 6-0 run to open the second half, with four points by Beahm and two by Gadell, going up 28-23 with 15:46 to play. Roanoke pushed the advantage to seven points after two more baskets by Beahm. Roanoke's lead stayed around eight points through the 7:40 mark as Wagner hit a layup to put the Maroons ahead 40-32. The Gophers went on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes, reclaiming the lead after an Amaka Ezeani layup with 2:57 to play in the half. Beahm and Yeaw hit a free throw each to tie the game at 44-44 with 1:42 on the clock. After three Gopher free throws, Gadell hit an important three-pointer with 47 seconds to play. But it was Briana Bull who closed the game out for Goucher with a layup and free throw with 11 seconds to play, topping the Maroons 50-47 in the Bast Center.

The Gophers also had two players shooting in double figures in the contest. Briana Bull led Goucher with 15 points, shooting 7-13 from the field. She finished with seven rebounds, two assists and one steal. Amaka Ezeani finished with 11 points, hitting 5-8 from under the basket. India Perkins led the squad with nine rebounds, while Jaida Scarborough led the team in assists by dishing out six over the course of the game.

Goucher outshot the Maroons 34.5 to 31.0 percent from the field, but Roanoke held the Gophers scoreless from behind the arc (0-8). Roanoke hit 25 percent from the three-point line (4-16). Roanoke also led from behind the free throw line, 70.0 to 55.6 percent. The Maroons outrebounded the Gophers 46-38, as well as leading in assists 13-11. Roanoke did have a tough time with turnovers, giving the ball up 22 times to Goucher's 12.

The Maroons return to action on Wednesday, January 7^th as they take on Washington and Lee in the Bast Center in the first game of a basketball double-header. The women's game begins at 5:00 PM, while the Men host Guilford at 7:30 PM.

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