EMORY, Va. – After posting a season-low effort from the floor on Friday night, the Bridgewater Eagles women's basketball team responded in a big way, drilling 40% of their shots and converting a season high 33 free throws en route to an 81-62 victory in the regular season finale at Emory & Henry.
With the win, the Eagles ended their three-game losing streak and secured their ninth-straight 15-plus win season as they look ahead now to the upcoming Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) tournament.
Bridgewater (15-10, 11-9 ODAC) was also efficient at the line in the win, converting on 33 of its 44 attempts on the afternoon.
Aside from their free-throw acumen, the Eagles outpaced the Wasps by a 44-24 tally in the paint in the win.
Emory & Henry (2-20, 1-19 ODAC) took an early 3-0 lead after a trio of free throws in the opening seconds but the Eagles stormed back with a 9-0 run, capped off by a layup from senior Jenny Logan, to take a 9-3 lead with just under three minutes expired in the first half.
The two teams traded buckets, with the Eagles leading 13-7, before the Wasps used an 8-2 run to knot the score at 15 each with just over 13 minutes to play in the opening set.
Emory & Henry pushed ahead by a pair, 22-20, before the Eagles responded with a 9-1 spurt to own a 29-23 lead with six minutes to play in the opening frame. Sophomore Holly Morgan keyed the Eagles run with five free throws and a layup to tally seven of her 16 points on the afternoon.
After the Eagles run, Emory & Henry would cut the Bridgewater lead to as low as three points with 93 ticks left in the opening stanza, but BC tallied the final five points of the half to take a 40-32 lead into the locker room.
Out of the intermission, the two teams once again traded scores, before a Carlyta Hamm jumper opened a 7-0 run for the Wasps to chip the Bridgewater advantage to a single point at a 42-41 margin with 18 and change to play.
Bridgewater responded with six straight points of its own, capped off by a Sarah Boeren layup with 15:56 to play to re-extend its lead to seven at a 48-41 gap.
Emory & Henry would get to within four points off of a Kristie Langley layup with 11:50 remaining before a Logan layup opened up a 13-4 run allowing the Eagles to extend their lead to double-figures at a 66-53 tally with under eight to play.
Down the game's stretch run, Bridgewater extended its double digit lead, while four Eagles pushed into double-figures in scoring as the Eagles ended the regular season with an 81-62 victory.
Freshman Shannan Thorne was impressive yet again in the win. The Cross Junction, Va. native notched her team-leading sixth double-double of the season, tallying 18 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Morgan finished the game with 16 points, while Logan chipped in 16 and Hottinger tallied 13 to pace the Eagles to their 15th victory of the season.
Thorne's 13-rebound effort helped the Eagles to a 47-42 advantage on the glass.
Bridgewater also owned a 23-13 advantage in points off turnovers and secured an 18-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Ashlyn Baird paced two Wasps in double figures with 20 points in the loss.
Bridgewater now awaits the announcement of the seeding for the upcoming ODAC Tournament at the Salem Civic Center.