EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Women's Basketball Team (10-4, 4-2 ODAC) made it back-to-back seasons with 10 or more wins Saturday as it easily handled Randolph-Macon College (7-7, 3-3 ODAC) by a 79-61 score at the John Rutledge King Center. It also marked the third-straight victory for the Wasps over the Yellow Jackets.
E&H scored the first nine points of the game, pushing its lead to 13-3 at the 5:28 mark of the first quarter thanks to seven points from freshman guard Taylor Blevins (Abingdon, Va.) and six from senior forward Karina Farr (Graham, Wash.). Randolph-Macon closed the margin to five later in the period but the Wasps scored four in a row to close the opening 10 minutes with a 19-10 advantage. In the second frame, the two squads traded baskets as Emory & Henry held a 40-29 lead at the intermission.
Coming out of the locker room, the Wasps scored nine in a row to start the half, going up 49-29 with 4:56 on the clock. E&H extended the margin to 22 points on three different occasions, but eight straight points by R-MC's Hannah Livermon to close the third quarter made the score 58-44 with 10 minutes to play. Emory & Henry extended its lead back above 15 with 5:13 to go and never looked back, leading by as much as 21 (79-58) in the final minute and a half as it won convincingly, 79-61.
E&H shot 50.9 percent (29-for-59) for the game including a blistering 17-for-24 (70.8%) in the second half. Blevins led all scorers with 24 points and added 10 rebounds to complete her second double-double in as many games. Farr had 19 points and eight rebounds while freshman Tessa Johnston (High Point, N.C.) and senior forward Tamara Brewster (Morrow, Ga.) pitched in 12 and 11 points, respectively, as Johnston hit double figures for the first time in her career. Junior guard Megan Jacoby (Richmond, Va.) notched eight points, six assists and three boards.
As a team, the Wasps dominated down low, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 50-16 on points in the paint and 15-3 on second-chance points. Emory & Henry led 43-28 on rebounding, including a 12-8 margin on offensive boards.
Randolph-Macon was paced by Livermon's 20 points while Katie Anderson added 12 points and seven rebounds. Taylor Intermill chipped in nine points and three boards while Lauren Vugteveen had seven rebounds and three blocks. The Yellow Jackets went just 21-for-59 (32.3%) from the field, but hit seven three-pointers and converted 12-of-14 (87.5%) of their free throws.
Emory & Henry will travel to Lynchburg College on Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m., for an Old Dominion Athletic Conference matchup against the league-leading Hornets.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15