HARRISONBURG, VA --- In a meeting of 2013 NCAA National Tournament teams, Eastern Mennonite set the tone early and then held on for an 82-64 win over Lancaster Bible College. With the win, the Royals complete their EMU Tip-Off Invitational with a 2-0 record.
EMU forced the Chargers into turnovers on four of their first five possessions to jump to a quick lead. The defense kept rolling as the basketball women pushed the lead to 18-5 just 8:32 in.
The Royals led by as many as 20 in the opening frame, and were up 44-28 at halftime.
LBC cut the lead to 10 early in the second, but a quick 16-3 run inflated the biggest cushion of the night, 60-37 with 14:56 to go. The Chargers slowly whittled back into the game, getting within single digits at 67-58 with 6:15 left, but Eastern Mennonite scored on their next seven possessions to establish control for the final 82-64 margin.
The women showed their depth, as their bench outscored LBC's 49-0. They also forced 27 turnovers and held the Chargers to 39.6% shooting.
Shakeerah Sykes (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) was one of three Royals in double figures, as she hit 16 points and tied for the team high with three assists. Alisa Brown (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) added 14 points, three assists and three steals. Marla zumFelde (Goshen, Ind./Bethany Christian) canned a trio of three pointers and scored 11.
Nora Osei (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) grabbed six offensive rebounds and finished with a game high 11 boards to with nine points. Becky Barrett (Damascus, Md./Damascus) added eight points and five caroms.
EMU shot 45.7% from the floor and had a 41-35 advantage on the glass.
Aubrey Folger led Lancaster Bible with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Shanice Smith charted 18 points and nine rebounds.
After averaging 83.5 points over their season-opening wins at home, Eastern Mennonite hits the road for a big test on Wednesday, playing at York (Pa.). The Spartans finished 20-7 last year and were effectively No. 29 in the D3hoops.com preseason poll. Game time in York is 6:00pm.