Eagles Upset #1 Roanoke, Look to Repeat

Box Score

SALEM, Va. --- Bridgewater College kept its repeat chances intact on Saturday afternoon as the Eagles upset top seeded Roanoke College, 69-58, in the first semifinal of the 2009 ODAC Women's Basketball Tournament.  Bridgewater improves to 17-10 on the season while the Maroons fall to 23-4.

Bridgewater advances to play the winner of the Randolph-Macon/Virginia Wesleyan match-up in the second semifinal.  The ODAC Championship will be played at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday in the Salem Civic Center.

The Eagles held Roanoke to 31.3-percent shooting on the day, forcing the Maroons into 24 turnovers.  Bridgewater enjoyed a 34-14 advantage in points in the paint with its bench out-scoring that of the Maroons, 14-4.

Jennifer Saunders led BC with 22 points including a 4-for-6 showing from three-point range.  She added five rebounds and four assists.  Emileigh Lambert collected 11 points while Rebecca Henderson recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with three blocks.

For the Maroons, Jordan Gholson set a new ODAC women's basketball single-tournament record in registering four more blocked shots to give her 14 for the tournament.  She notched 17 points and seven boards to go with her four blocks against BC.  Erin Jenkins also had 17 points, hitting 5-of-9 shots from beyond the arc.  Jaleesa Osborne notched 11 markers to go with six assists and four steals.

Roanoke jumped out to an early 10 lead with Gholson notching seven early points down in the post.  Bianca Booker got the Eagles on the scoreboard at the 15:47 mark.  That bucket started an 18-8 run to pull Bridgewater even at 18-18 with 7:57 to go in the half.

Jenkins dropped in a pair of three-pointers to quench Roanoke's dry spell, providing it with a six-point edge at 24-18.  Gholson canned a foul line jumper, but jumpers by Kristin Bosserman and Brittani Criss made the score 26-22 in Roanoke's favor with 2:39 showing on the clock.

After Jordan Burkholder and Marcy Conner traded lay-ups, Bosserman drew Bridgewater to within two at 30-28 sending the two squads into the half.

Neither team could muster much offense at the outset of the second half, but Bridgewater did scratch out a three-point lead at 35-32.  Jenkins leveled the score with her third three-pointer on the Maroons ensuing possession, but a quick lay-up by Lambert prompted Roanoke into a timeout at the 15:33 mark.

Both squads traded buckets over the next few possessions with BC opening a four-point lead.  Jenkins cashed-in another three-pointer to cut the deficit to one, but Saunders equaled her bid, knocking down her third shot from behind the arc to put the Eagles back up four with 13:30 to play.

Osborne continued the long-distance dialing with her first three to make the score 44-43 BC.  Caitlyn Long opened her account with the second of two free throws to tie the score at 44-44 with 9:34 on the clock.

Osborne continued her assert herself on offense, hitting a long jumper and a pair of free throws to tie the score for the sixth time in the half at 48-48.  Following a steal and lay-in by Lambert, Saunders again found the net from deep, pushing BC ahead, 53-48, with 5:16 to play.