Box Score
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Dominant for a majority of the game, the Elizabethtown College women's basketball team was faced with the reality of watching a once 18-point lead slip away to visiting Eastern at Thompson Gymnasium Monday evening. Kaity Snyder and her Blue Jay teammates would not allow that to happen, though. Snyder registered her sixth double-double of the season and Elizabethtown got enough baskets down the stretch to hold off the hard-charging Eagles, 65-58.
Shante Jones almost single-handedly brought Eastern (10-7) back from its double-digit second half deficit. Jones, the Freedom Conference's leading scorer netted 24 of her game-high 35 points after the break, and brought the Eagles within three, 57-54, on a fast break layup with 3:43 remaining.
Elizabethtown (10-7) answered with a quick 5-0 spurt which included a 3-pointer from Stephanie Ellwood and a layup by Snyder. Ellwood, a Schuylkill County native, would score 11 points on the evening and collect seven boards. It was the ninth time in 17 games that the junior has finished with 10 points or more and the ninth time she's registered seven rebounds or more in a contest.
Four minutes into the game it was Eastern that looked to have an extra jump in its step. Jones opened with four straight points and Bekah Roland, averaging nearly 13 points per contest coming into Monday's action, scored six points in a row to stake the Eagles to a 10-3 lead.
The next 12 minutes was all Blue Jays, as a 30-6 run sparked by eight points from Megan Strohman and five from Snyder carried the home team to halftime with a comfortable 40-24 advantage.
Kelly Sauerzopf and Snyder sandwiched jumpers around a layup from Eastern's Roland to start the second half and give E-town its largest lead of the game at 18 (44-26). The Eagles cut E-town's lead to single digits for good on a steal and coast-to-coast trip for two by Jones with 5:12 remaining. Eighteen of Eastern's 21 points off turnovers came after halftime.
The Blue Jays remained poised down the stretch, even when things got a bit unsettling, and they were rewarded with their 10th win of the season. Snyder's strong season continued to gain momentum as she wound up 7-of-12 from the floor and 5-of-8 from the foul line for a team-best 19 points. She also pulled in 11 rebounds, a team-high as well. Strohman added 12 for the Jays, who shot 38.5 percent for the game (25-of-65).
Jones and Katie Lincoln were the only Eagles to reach double-figures in the game. Surprisingly, Roland had just eight points on 2-of-6 shooting following her quick start. The Manheim Central product did manage to grab nine rebounds in defeat, however.
Jones set a season-high for herself with the 35-point explosion. Her previous best was a 34-point barrange in a 60-56 win against DeSales in early January. The speedy guard did take 24 shots to get her 35 points, and converted 13 of them. She also had a game-high 12 rebounds. Lincoln had 10 for Eastern, which fell to 2-6 on the road this season.
Elizabethtown got eight points from Nadine Yunginger and six each from Sauerzopf and Kendra Beittel. Beittel, Ellwood and Sauerzopf all shared the team lead in assists with three, and E-town held a 14-8 edge in that category.
Alvernia is next on the docket for Elizabethtown. The Blue Jays will be looking to avenge the 85-67 defeat that they suffered against the Crusaders in Reading back on Jan. 8. Tip-off from Thompson Gymnasium this Saturday is set for 2 p.m.