Top-Seeded EMU Advances To Semifinals With a 68-58 Win Over W&L

SALEM, Va. --- Top-seeded Eastern Mennonite defeated Washington and Lee, 68-58,  in the quarterfinals of the ODAC Tournament at the Salem Civic Center on Thursday.  EMU will now face sixth-seeded Lynchburg College in the semifinals on Saturday at 1:00pm.

Although the women never trailed against Washington and Lee, the Generals made enough plays to keep the first quarterfinal game of the day very interesting.  EMU broke off a 14-14 tie and grabbed a 23-16 lead, then pushed it to 36-23 when Alisa Brown hit a jumper with 2:08 left in the first.  That would be the biggest lead of the game, however, as W&L ended the half on a 7-2 run to close the gap to 38-30 at the break.

The Royals kept the lead around 10 for a while in the second, before they got sloppy with the ball.  Three turnovers and two missed shots let Washington and Lee go on a 10-2 run to slice the lead to 53-52 with 6:03 to go.

Keyla Baltimore scored four unanswered points to push the edge back to five, but the Generals answered with four of their own to cut it back to 57-56.  Brown then buried a clutch three pointer to push the edge back to four with 2:39 left.

The big triple changed the momentum of the game, as the Royals held W&L to just one more field goal the rest of the way.  The women made 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to ice the decision, with Steph Rheinheimer getting a steal and easy layup for the final points of the game.

Most team stats were relatively even, with W&L staying in the game with 15 offensive rebounds.  The deciding difference came at the free throw line, where EMU finished 24-27 while the Generals were just 4-4.

Baltimore tied a program record by making all 10 of her free throws.  She had 12 of her team high 16 points in the second half and added four rebounds and three assists.  Raiven Patterson also broke double figures and finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three steals.

Rheinheimer came in with nine points and four boards.  Shakeerah Sykes had eight points, seven rebounds and five steals.

Seniors Katy Wilson and Rachel Warrick led the Generals in their final game.  Wilson had 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Warrick finished with 16 and five assists.

Eastern Mennonite is now 20-5 on the year and earns their fourth 20-win campaign in program history, including this season and last season.

This release is courtesy of the Eastern Mennonite Sports Information department.