Lewis leads EMU women to win at Lynchburg

  
Staff Report
EMU sports: www.emu.edu

After ending a three-game losing skid the night before, the EMU women’s basketball team looked to build another winning streak with a road game at Lynchburg Saturday night. The women had a rocky first half before controlling the Hornets in the second and grabbing a 60-56 win.

Eastern Mennonite scored the first seven points, capped by pair of Melissa Lewis (Stuarts Draft, Va./Stuarts Draft) free throws. But Lynchburg took control and spurted to a 22-11 lead by the 9:05 mark.

The Hornets led by as many as 15 in the half, at 31-16, but EMU ended the half on a 12-2 run to trail by five at the break, 33-28.

The Royals maintained the momentum in the second, overtaking Lynchburg with a Marla Young (Fishersville, Va./Wilson Memorial) jumper to make it 36-35.

Eastern Mennonite led by as many as eight points before the home team tied the game at 51-51 with 5:03 to play. But the Royals kept the lead and then iced the win with free throws from Lewis and Ebony Dennis (Baltimore, Md./Western) in the final 18 seconds, producing the final four-point margin.

The game was decided at the free throw line, where EMU went 17-22 while the Hornets were 9-10.

Lewis led the charge with 18 points and five steals. The point guard was 9-of-12 from the charity stripe. Sara Lamneck (Swoope, Va./Buffalo Gap) added 12 points, six rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

EMU shot 40 percent in the win, hitting 20 of 50 shots. The women were just 3-of-14 from long range and were outrebounded 39-36. Lynchburg shot 34 percent in the loss, including 5-of-15 from three point range.

Tamara Snead led the Hornets with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The Royals improve to 12-3 with the win and 8-3 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Their next game is a home date with conference-leading Randolph-Macon (12-3/10-1 ODAC).