It took a few minutes to get going, but by the end it was all EMU Friday night, as the women’s basketball team rolled over Emory & Henry 88-59 on the road. The Royals broke off a 26-26 tie in the first half and closed on a 62-33 surge over the final 27 minutes.
The two teams traded leads early in the first until Eastern Mennonite finished the half on a 16-6 tear to lead 42-32 at halftime.
The Wasps twice had the lead down to nine points in the opening ticks of the second. But Bianca Ygarza (Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor) helped the women re-establish control by going on a personal 9-2 run to push the lead to 16 at 55-39.
The defense then fended off EHC, which would never get closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
Eastern Mennonite out-shot their hosts 57% to 39%, including a 5-for-10 performance from three point range. The Royals also forced 23 Wasp turnovers and thoroughly controlled the boards, 41-25.
Ygarza topped all scorers with a career high 29 points on 11-for-15 shooting. She scored 18 in the second half and finished with eight rebounds.
Kala Yoders (Myerstown, PA/ELCO) and Stephanie Rheinheimer (Manheim, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) each scored 12 in the first half alone and helped form EMU’s three-headed monster. Yoders charted 20 and seven boards with 8-for-11 shooting. Rheinheimer nailed all four of her triples in the first 20 minutes and came in with 14 points.
Shakeerah Sykes (Dumfries, VA/Forest Park) added nine points while point guard Keyla Baltimore (Bristow, VA/Brentsville District) had a game high five assists. Alisa Brown (Dumfries, VA/Forest Park) picked three steals.
Kristie Langley led Emory & Henry with 21 points.
Eastern Mennonite improves to 20-3 overall and 16-3 in the ODAC, and sets up Saturday’s showdown at Guilford for the second seed in the ODAC Tournament. The Quakers are also 16-3 in the league following a 70-49 win over Bridgewater Friday night. The season-ending game tips off at 4:00pm in Greensboro, NC.
The women’s ODAC Tournament starts next Thursday at the Salem Civic Center.
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