EMORY, Va. – The Eastern Mennonite University Women's Basketball Team (15-4, 9-1 ODAC) remained atop the Old Dominion Athletic Conference standings with a 70-50 win over Emory & Henry College (4-15, 2-8 ODAC) Saturday afternoon at the John Rutledge King Center. The Royals placed four players in double figures en route to the victory.
The two teams battled back and forth for the first 6:43 of the game with Emory & Henry leading 12-11. EMU scored seven straight points to go up 18-12 and pushed its lead to double figures with 7:01 to go before the break. The Royals would lead by as much as 13 late in the first half, but the Wasps got a three-pointer from junior guard Kristie Langley (Staley, N.C.) to make the score 35-25 at the intermission.
Emory & Henry scored eight of the first 10 points of the second half to trim the margin to 37-33 but would get no closer the rest of the way. Though EMU tried to pull away, E&H kept the Royals within arm's reach until a 6-0 run pushed the lead to 57-43. The Wasps got the score back to single digits, but Eastern Mennonite closed the game on a 13-2 run for the final 70-50 margin.
Bianca Ygarza led all players with 17 points and added six rebounds and four assists for EMU. Shakeerah Sykes notched 14 points on seven-for-11 shooting and three steals off the bench while the Rheinheimer sisters, Steph and Jess, added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Steph Rheinheimer also pulled down seven boards and dished out three assists.
For the game, the Royals were 44.1 percent (26-for-59) from the field and hit six of their 20 three-point attempts. Eastern Mennonite held a 36-24 advantage on points in the paint, including a 28-8 mark in the second half.
Langley notched 11 points, three rebounds and two steals to lead E&H while sophomore forward Karina Farr (Graham, Wash.) registered nine points and five boards. Senior forward JoBeth Wright (Mooresville, N.C.) had eight points and four rebounds while sophomore forward Tamara Brewster (Morrow, Ga.)added seven points and five rebounds off the bench.
The Wasps shot 21-for-56 (37.5%) from the floor but hit only one of eight tries from beyond the arc. Turnovers and free throw shooting were also issues as the Royals forced 18 miscues and E&H shot just 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from the line.
Emory & Henry will travel to Salem on Wednesday evening for an ODAC matchup with Roanoke College. Tipoff between the Wasps and Maroons is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
---E&H---
-photo courtesy of Ashlie Caldwell E&H '14