SALEM, VA --- This time of year the goal is simple: win and move on. While the EMU women didn't do everything effectively Thursday afternoon, they did enough to grit out a 68-58 win over eighth-seeded Washington and Lee in the ODAC Tournament Quarterfinals at the Salem Civic Center.
The top-seeded Royals advance to the ODAC Semifinals Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm and will play No.5 Lynchburg, which knocked off No. 4 Bridgewater 51-47. Eastern Mennonite also notches their 13th straight win to break the program record for the longest streak.
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 (Dumfries, VA/Forest Park) 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 (Bristow, VA/Brentsville District) 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 (Manheim, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) 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 (Pulaski, PA/Pulaski County) 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 (Dumfries, VA/Forest Park) had eight points, seven rebounds and five steals.
Seniors Katy Wilson (Chattanooga, TN/Baylor) and Rachel Warrick (Herndon, VA/Langley) 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.