SALEM, VA --- Committing 28 turnovers was too much for the EMU basketball women to overcome Saturday, as they suffered a 69-65 defeat at ODAC rival Roanoke. The loss was the first of the ODAC season for Eastern Mennonite as they fell into a three-way tie for second place at 3-1 in the league.
Bianca Ygarza (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) scored seven of the women's first 16 points, pushed the Royals to their biggest lead at 16-12. Roanoke responded with a drawn-out 15-2 run, surging to their biggest lead at 27-18. EMU settled and trailed by only two at halftime, 29-27.
The second half stayed tight, as the vast majority of the period remained as a one- or two-possession difference. A Marla zumFelde (Goshen, Ind./Bethany Christian) three pointer tied the score at 55-55 with 4:58 to go, but the Maroons skipped back to a five-point lead at 62-57. Another triple from the sharp-shooting junior cut the deficit down to two, but that would be as close as EMU could get.
RC hit 7-of-8 free throws over the final 47 seconds, and the Royals didn't help themselves by committing two more turnovers over the stretch. A Maroon steal with eight seconds left closed the door on the decision.
EMU struggled to get their transition game going, and end up attempting 33 three pointers and tying a program record. The women connected on nine of them, for 27%. Overall, the Royals had a slight edge in shooting, 37% to 34%, and controlled the boards, 49-36. But the Maroons made more trips to the free throw line, going 21-26 compared to 10-14 for EMU. They also committed only 16 turnovers while the Royals had 28, their most in a game since the 2010-11 season.
Leading the way was zumFelde, who notched 19 points including five three pointers. Ygarza came in with 13 points and nine rebounds. Shakeerah Sykes (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) put in 11 points and seven rebounds.
Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) chipped in nine rebounds and eight points, while Keyla Baltimore (Bristow, Va./Brentsville District) had a game high six assists.
Paxton Gwin led Roanoke with 19 points and Laurel Hankins had 13 points and seven rebounds.
The loss drops the Royals to 9-4 overall and 3-1 in the ODAC. They have a big road game coming up on Wednesday, at Virginia Wesleyan. The Marlins upset Guilford 56-52 in Greensboro and are now the lone undefeated team in the league at 4-0.
Ygarza Scores 1000
With her first field goal on Saturday, senior Bianca Ygarza scored her 1000th point. The two-time All-ODAC First Teamer is just the 11th woman in EMU history to score at least 1000 points, and currently has 1011. Ygarza is also 12th in program history with her 577 career rebounds and 15th with 121 steals.