The EMU basketball women lost 72-68 on the road at Randolph-Macon tonight in a hard-fought battle that came down to the final seconds. Despite their second best shooting performance on the season to date, the Royals end their winning streak falling to 7-8 on the season and 4-4 in the ODAC.
EMU came out strong in the always hostile Crenshaw Gymnasium to start the game as they jumped out to an early 20-10 lead behind a 9-1 run mid-way through the first quarter.
The Yellow Jackets (12-3/7-1 ODAC) countered with their own 18-2 run to take a 28-22 lead with 4:20 remaining in the second quarter. The Royals responded by scoring on back-back-back layups before grabbing a 29-28 lead on a made three pointer by Chrissy Delawder (Broadway, Va. / Broadway).
The teams played even basketball the rest of the half to head into halftime tied at 33.
The second half began similar to the first with EMU taking charge by scoring nine straight points before Randolph-Macon made their first shot four minutes into the third quarter. The Yellow Jackets would make up for it holding the Royals scoreless the last 5:28 of the quarter after an Emily McCombs (Culpeper, Va./Eastern View) three pointer that gave the Royals a 45-37 lead. The cold spell allowed for Randolph-Macon to tie the game going into the fourth quarter.
The teams traded the first nine points keeping the game tied at 54. Lindsey Krisak (Alexandria, Va./Thomas A. Edison) carried the ball up court and stepped into a made three pointer to begin an 8-2 run for the Royals that gave them a 62-56 lead with 3:24 remaining.
Randolph-Macon answered with nine points of their own to retake the lead. Krisak made another three pointer on the next EMU possession tying the game at 65. A made layup and a pair of free throws gave the Yellow Jackets a 69-65 advantage with 24 seconds remaining.
McCombs made it a one point game with 22 seconds to go after getting fouled on a three point attempt and capitalized on her free throws. Randolph-Macon added two free throws making it a three point game as the Royals inbounded with 16 seconds to go.
Krisak fired off a game tying attempt that hit and then rolled all the way around the rim before eventually falling out for a Yellow Jacket rebound with five seconds left. Randolph-Macon added a final free throw to finish the game.
McCombs led the Royals with 18 points. Krisak scored 17 while adding eight rebounds and four assists. Delawder finished with eight points and two blocks. Jess Washington (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) snagged five rebounds and two steals to add to her six points
The Royals shot 44.3% (27-61) from the floor and 50.0% (9-18) from three point range compared to the Yellow Jackets who shot 38.5% (25-65) and 36.8% (7-19) behind the arc.
The women look to get back on the winning side of things on Saturday when they head to Randolph for a 2:00pm game.
Michal Ross led Randolph-Macon with 23 points and nine rebounds.
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