Faced with a tough opponent, the Royals responded well. So well, in fact, that they trailed for only 17 seconds in a 75-55 trumping on Washington and Lee Saturday afternoon in Harrisonburg.
Eastern Mennonite made their first four shots to jump ahead. The Generals had a short lead at 5-4 after a Meg Ingram (Greensboro, NC/Ragsdale) three pointer, but the Royals kept rolling and zipped ahead 15-7 just six minutes into the game.
The lead grew to as many as 12, before the visitors made their best run of the day, getting within six at 26-20. EMU then closed the first half on a 10-3 surge to lead 36-23 at the break.
The lead quickly grew to 20 as the women opened the second with seven straight points. Ingram, W&L’s point guard, headed to the bench two minutes into the frame and never returned.
With that, the Royals owned the half as they never let the lead slip below 14 points. EMU nailed 7-of-11 three pointers in the final 20 minutes to keep the Generals at bay.
With a 46% to 38% shooting advantage, the women also forced Washington and Lee into a crippling 24 turnovers.
“I thought that we defended really well,” Coach Kevin Griffin said. “We frustrated them defensively and we had contributions from everywhere. We just really shot the ball well today and that makes your offense looks better.”
Stephanie Rheinheimer (Manheim, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) had her best offensive game of the season, hitting five triples and topping all players with 17 points along with six rebounds. Shakeerah Sykes (Dumfries, VA/Forest Park) had four offensive boards and put in 12 points. Kala Yoders (Myerstown, PA/ELCO) was good for 11 points and seven rebounds.
Keyla Baltimore (Bristow, VA/Brentsville District) and Alisa Brown (Dumfries, VA/Forest Park) each dished out five assists. Brown added nine points and a game high three steals.
Becca Bolton (Pittsboro, NC/Chatham Central) led W&L with 15 points and nine rebounds. Rachel Warrick (Herndon, VA/Langley) had 16 points and seven rebounds.
Eastern Mennonite moves to 13-1 with their seventh consecutive win, including 10-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The Royals continue their season-longest three-game homestand next week, welcoming in rival Bridgewater on Tuesday followed by Randolph College on Friday.
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