Defensive third quarter carries EMU to first win

The EMU basketball women fought their way to a 65-54 victory over the Apprentice School on Saturday. This was their first win of the season and the final game of the EMU Invitational.

The Royals have a quick turnaround as they hit the road on Monday, Nov. 25 traveling to play at Lynchburg for their first Old Dominion Athletic Conference game of the season.

The Builders made the first layup of the game, but a 6-0 run for EMU gave them an early lead. Apprentice came back to take a 10-9 advantage with 2:21 to go in the first quarter, then a layup by Chloe Roach (Leesburg, Va./Tuscarora) put the EMU back in front 11-10 at the first quarter break.

The first five points of the second quarter went to EMU as Emily McCombs (Culpeper, Va./Eastern View) hit a three to increase the lead to six. Apprentice tied the game at 18 at the 5:30 mark, but Tiffany Carey (Bedford, Va./Jefferson Forest) responded with two, three pointers in a row. Carey would finish with eight points.

Up one point with 15 seconds to go, it looked as though the Builders would take a lead into halftime until McCombs made another three to give EMU the 30-28 advantage at the half.

The third quarter is where EMU began to separate themselves. An early 7-2 run put Apprentice in front by three in the first couple minutes. However, the Royals would hold them to just two more points in the quarter as they scored 17 points over the next seven minutes to take control of the game.

The Builders did not score again until 8:47 to go in the fourth quarter, but by then EMU was pacing with a fifteen point lead. The Royals were able to go to their bench in the final five minutes as they cruised to the finish line.

EMU shot 30.6% as a team from the field as Apprentice made 32.3% of their shots. The Royals had 40 shots from the free throw line and made 55% of their attempts as the Builders made 42.9%.

Chrissy Delawder (Broadway, Va./Broadway) and McCombs led EMU with 13 points each. Delawder also pulled in 11 rebounds to pick up the double-double. Constance Komara (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) scored 10 points off the bench while collecting eight rebounds. Roach finished with nine points and four steals.