SALEM, Va. --- Third-seeded Washington and Lee
closed the game with a 33-6 run to post a 62-47 win over
seventh-seeded Eastern Mennonite in the semifinals of the ODAC
Women's Basketball Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Salem
Civic Center.
The win advances the Generals to their first-ever ODAC Championship
game and was their program-record 17th victory of the season
(17-9).
W&L shot just 37.5 percent (9-24), committed 15 turnovers and
was plagued by foul trouble in the opening 20 minutes, in falling
behind 30-22 at the halftime break.
The Royals (16-10) upped their lead to as many as 12 points in the
second stanza, leading 41-29 with 13:17 to play. However, the
Generals began their run at that point as sophomore guard Meg
Ingram (Greensboro, N.C./Ragsdale) and first-year forward Rachel
Warrick (Herndon, Va./Langley) scored five points apiece to spark a
12-0 run that knotted the game at 41-41 with 9:57 remaining.
EMU regained the lead (44-41) when first-year guard Danielle
Rittenhouse drilled a three-pointer on the next possession, but the
Generals grabbed the lead back for good (46-44) at the 8:37 mark on
a triple by junior guard Allie Long (Hastings-on-Hudson,
N.Y./Hastings). W&L proceeded to outscore Eastern Mennonite,
16-3, the rest of the way in pulling away for the 15-point win.
The Generals limited EMU to just 26.3 percent (5-19) shooting in
the second half and forced 13 second-half turnovers by the Royals.
Conversely, W&L committed just five turnovers and shot 48.4
percent (15-31) over the final 20 minutes of play.
Ingram scored a team-high 16 points for W&L, while Long
contributed 12 points. Warrick tallied nine points and first-year
guard Katy Wilson (Chattanooga, Tenn./Baylor) notched nine points
and 10 boards. Sophomore forward Becca Bolton (Pittsboro,
N.C./Chatham Central) chipped in eight points and 10 rebounds as
well.
Senior guard Ebony Dennis paced Eastern Mennonite with 12 points
and nine rebounds. Rittenhouse added 11 markers for the Royals.
The Generals will face fifth-seeded Virginia Wesleyan in the
championship game at the Salem Civic Center on Sunday at 1:00
pm.
This release is courtesy of the Washington and Lee
University sports information department.