HARRISONBURG, VA --- For the second straight season, the EMU basketball women head into the postseason riding a 12-game winning streak with the top seed in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament. The Royals wrapped up the regular season with a convincing 76-46 win over Lynchburg College on Senior Day.
Eastern Mennonite improves to 21-4 with the win, including 15-1 in the ODAC for the second straight season. It was also the women's 18th straight win in Yoder Arena, dating back to Jan. 7, 2013.
As the ODAC's top seed, EMU will play in a quarterfinal game in Salem on Thursday at 1:00pm. The women will play either eighth-seeded Shenandoah or ninth-seeded Randolph. Those two teams play Monday night in Winchester. The ODAC semifinals are next Saturday, followed by the Championship game on Sunday.
All ODAC Tournament games will have live stats and be streamed via ODAC.tv. The new, web streaming outlet of the conference will provide viewers with features including full HD, multi-camera broadcasts with professional graphics and production, and player and coach interviews and features. Be sure to check out the website for features and pay-per-view options before game time of EMU's contests.
Click here for the ODAC Basketball Tournament home page, which includes the full tournament bracket.
Although a good match was expected between the Royals and Lynchburg (15-10/12-4 ODAC), which entered the day tied for second in the league, EMU's superior speed was evident from the opening tip. The women scored the first 10 points, holding LC scoreless for the first 5:17 of play.
Senior Bianca Ygarza (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) hit back-to-back buckets to inflate the lead to 20-4 with 9:01 left in the game, and the Royals never looked back. EMU limited the Hornets to a 2-for-24 start in shooting, and pinned a 40-17 halftime lead on their visitors.
The Royals led by as many as 31 points in the game and cruised to the 76-46 final.
EMU finished with a 51.7% shooting clip, while holding Lynchburg to 27.9%. The women also had a monstrous 51-26 edge in rebounding.
Ygarza led a balanced Royals' attack with 12 points and seven rebounds, with classmate Steph Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) adding 11 on the strength of three triples. Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) was good for 10 points and eight rebounds.
Nora Osei (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) added nine points and seven rebounds, while Keyla Baltimore (Bristow, Va./Brentsville District) had eight points and four assists in her final regular season game in Yoder Arena.
Baltimore also guarded LC's leading scorer, Shannon Allen, and held her to two points on 1-of-7 shooting. Allen averaged 15.3 points entering the game. Ann Dorris led the Hornets with 11 points and three assists.
Senior Recognition
Bianca Ygarza, Steph Rheinheimer and Keyla Baltimore were honored in a pregame ceremony on Senior Recognition Day. The trio has been a big reason why the Royals have three consecutive 20-win seasons as well as the program's second-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament last spring. They also have the most wins of any class in EMU women's basketball history, earning their 78th win with the decision over Lynchburg.