HARRISONBURG, Va. – Behind a stingy defense and a double-double from sophomore Katelynn Hottinger (Linville, Va./Broadway), the Bridgewater Eagles women's basketball team dropped the Eastern Mennonite Royals by a 62-42 score at Yoder Arena.
Bridgewater's stingy defense exploited the Royals early, as the Eagles built a 10-2 lead off of four Eastern Mennonite miscues in the first three-plus minutes. Junior Jenny Logan (Luray, Va./Luray)and senior Jordan Burkholder (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) tallied three points apiece during the opening-game run.
Eastern Mennonite tallied the next bucket to bring the game back to a six point deficit before a mini 5-0 spurt from the Eagles put the squad ahead 15-4 with 11:51 to play in the opening stanza.
The Eagles pushed their first half lead as high as 17 points on two separate occasions in the latter portion of the half before the Royals ended the half on an 8-1 run to bring the game to a 33-23 tally at the intermission.
Bridgewater forced 14 EMU miscues in the opening half, while Burkholder posted a team-high 10 points to lead the way in the game's first 20 minutes.
Out of the halftime break, the Eagles used a 13-2 run to build its biggest lead to that point in the game at a 46-25 margin with 14 and a half to play in the contest. Bridgewater forced five EMU turnovers in the first four minutes of the half to extend its halftime advantage. Burkholder and Hottinger sparked the Eagles with multiple scores during the run.
Bridgewater pushed its advantage to as high as 25 points on multiple occasions in the second half, before the two teams traded buckets in the final minutes of regulation as the Eagles powered their way to their third straight victory by a 62-42 tally.
Hottinger turned in arguably the best performance of her Bridgewater career with a 14 point, 14 rebound double-double. The Linville, Va. native also blocked six shots along the way. Burkholder led the way offensively with a game-high 16 points.
On the glass, the Eagles out-rebounded the Royals by a 39-36 margin, with Hottinger's 14 boards leading the way.
Eastern Mennonite was led offensively by a 12-point outing from Danielle Rittenhouse.
Bridgewater's defense yet again caused havoc for its opponent as the Eagles forced 27 EMU miscues in the victory leading to a 24-8 discrepancy in points off turnovers.
Bridgewater is back in action on Wednesday when the squad hosts Virginia Wesleyan. Wednesday's game is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start. All fans who bring a new and unwrapped toy to the game will receive free admission.