Heading into Saturday’s season finale at Guilford College, the Eastern Mennonite women knew they controlled their own destiny for the second seed in next week’s ODAC Tournament. The Royals responded in a big way, controlling the second half in a 68-56 win.
EMU finishes 17-3 in the ODAC and tied with Virginia Wesleyan. The Marlins gain the tourney’s top seed based on sweeping the Royals during the season. Eastern Mennonite will take on the seventh seed, Roanoke College, Thursday night at 6:00pm at the Salem Civic Center.
The ODAC Semifinals are Saturday afternoon with the Championship on Sunday.
The Royals earned the win, and season sweep of the Quakers who finished third, by locking down defensively and holding their opponents to just 35% shooting.
EMU blew out of the gates to a 14-7 advantage, but watched Guilford come right back with an 11-3 run.
In the second half, the game was still tied at 32-32 before the Royals took over. A 7-0 run put the women up 39-32. After a GC layup, EMU scored five more to cap a 12-2 run, bolting ahead 44-34.
With the pedal still on the floor, Eastern Mennonite used another 7-0 to blow the lead to 53-38 with 8:45 to play. In all, it was a 21-6 run over the span of 7:43 and the Quakers never recovered.
Bianca Ygarza (Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor) hit 8-of-12 shots and finished with a game high 19. She had plenty of support in a balanced attack, as Kala Yoders (Myerstown, PA/ELCO) came in with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Keyla Baltimore (Bristow, VA/Brentsville District) had nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Alisa Brown (Dumfries, VA/Forest Park) chipped in 11 points and six rebounds.
Jazlyn Gibbs led Guilford with 18 points, but shot just 6-of-18 from the floor. Brittany Drew added 12 off the bench and Gabby Oglesby had 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Royals close the regular season 21-3 overall and 17-3 in the ODAC.
Listed below are the official ODAC Tournament pairings. For more information, click here to see the ODAC Tournament website.
2012 ODAC WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRINGS AND SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals – Thursday, February 23 – Salem Civic Center
Game 1: #1 Virginia Wesleyan vs. #8 Lynchburg – 1:00 p.m.
Game 2: #4 Randolph-Macon vs. #5 Washington and Lee – 3:00 p.m.
Game 3: #2 Eastern Mennonite vs. #7 Roanoke – 6:00 p.m.
Game 4: #3 Guilford vs. #6 Bridgewater – 8:00 p.m.
Semifinals – Saturday, February 25 – Salem Civic Center
Game 5: Winner 1v8 vs. Winner 4v5 – 1:00 p.m.
Game 6: Winner 2v7 vs. Winner 3v6 – 3:00 p.m.
Finals – Sunday, February 26 – Salem Civic Center
Game 7: Winner Semi #1 vs. Winner Semi #2 – 1:00 p.m.
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