BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Bridgewater College placed four players in double figures Monday evening as the Eagles overwhelmed Emory & Henry, 76-51, in a first-round game of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament.
Heather Cantrell and Molly Shelley scored 21 points apiece, giving the Eagles a dynamic 1-2 scoring punch against the Wasps. Shelley made 8-of-13 shots and Cantrell connected on 7-of-12 from the field. Cassidy Burkholder added 13 points and Jessica Lam came off the bench to score 10.
The victory sends the Eagles to the tournament quarterfinals Thursday evening at the Salem Civic Center. Bridgewater will face the No. 2 seed, Randolph-Macon in the 6:00 p.m. game. Macon defeated the Eagles 99-81 back on Dec. 3 in Nininger Hall.
Emory & Henry defeated Bridgewater, 79-67; just nine days ago on the Wasps home court, but Monday's game would be an entirely different story.
The Wasps stayed close early, but the Eagles used a 9-2 run to increase a 15-10 lead to double digits with 6:57 left in the half.
Shelley scored on the fast break after taking a nifty bounce pass from Burkholder and Lam swished a 3-pointer for a 20-12 lead. Shelley scored the next four points, two on a layup and two more from the foul line, making the score 24-12.
Emory & Henry's Tenisha Connor rattled in a 3-pointer to slice the lead to single digits, 29-20, before Bridgewater's Morgan and the Wasps' Amanda Stanley traded hoops, keeping the margin at nine with 3:40 left in the half.
Shelley scored on a 15-footer, but Stanley made two foul shots as the lead remained steady at nine, 33-24, with 1:18 remaining in the half.
Bridgewater scored five unanswered points in the final minute to take its biggest lead of the half. Burkholder scored on a layup, pushing the margin to 11 points, 35-24. Oshene Kelly rebounded a Wasps' missed shot and Burkholder converted a three-point play with just two seconds left in the half to send the Eagles to the break with a 38-24 lead.
The Eagles came out of the locker room and hit the Wasps with a 6-0 spurt to take a 20-point lead. Cantrell scored in the post and Morgan knocked down a baseline jumper for a 42-24 Eagles lead. Shelley tacked on two free throws, putting the lead at 20 points for the first time in the game with 17:25 left to play.
Buckets by Tamara Brewster and Stanley trimmed the margin to 16, but Jessi Strom made a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Eagles on top 49-30.
The lead was still 19 when Shelley and Lam knocked down back-to-back 3-pointer to push the advantage to 63-38 as the second half neared the midway point.
The Eagles led by as many as 30 points in the final 10 minutes before finishing with the final 76-51 margin of victory.
Bridgewater shot a solid 44.4 percent from the floor as the Eagles made 28-of-63 shots. The defense also turned in a strong effort, forcing 16 turnovers and limiting the Wasps to 38.3 percent from the field.
The Eagles also utilized a balanced effort on the glass to hold a 45-33 rebounding margin. All five starters pull down at least seven rebounds. Morgan pulled down a team-high nine boards while Shelley, Burkholder, Cantrell and Strom each finished with nine rebounds.
Stanley came off the bench to lead Emory & Henry with 14 points. The Wasps top two scorers on the season – Kristie Langley and Karina Farr – were both held to single digits. Farr scored eight points and Langley had six.
Bridgewater is now 9-16 overall while Emory & Henry closes the book on its season with a 6-20 record.