SALEM, VA -- The postseason troubles with Guilford College continued for the EMU women Saturday afternoon, as the top-seeded Royals lost 61-54 to GC in the ODAC Tournament semifinals in Salem. Despite six straight regular season wins in the series, Eastern Mennonite has lost to the Quakers in the postseason each of the past three years.
EMU has a 13-game winning streak broken and ends the season with a record of 22-5. The women seem to be on the edge of the bubble for getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The field will be announced Monday at 2:30pm via a video webcast from NCAA.com.
The Quakers used their height advantage inside early, as Morgan King and Gabby Oglesby combined for 14 points and a 15-8 lead just 7:49 in.
Keyla Baltimore (Bristow, Va./Brentsville District) nailed a triple from the left corner and the women caught fire. Getting transition buckets and free throws, the Royals scored 11 unanswered to vault in front, 19-15.
Both teams settled down and Guilford took a 32-30 lead into halftime, on the strength of 11 offensive rebounds in the frame.
Steph Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) drilled a triple early in the second to put the women back in front, 35-34, but the Quakers used a short 6-0 run to push back in the lead, 49-41 with 10:30 left. Guilford's edge held until late, with Oglesby's jumper at 1:23 keeping it at 55-48.
The Royals then gave their last-ditch effort. The Quakers missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw, and Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) was fouled grabbing the rebound. She converted both tosses to cut the lead to five. Alisa Brown (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) picked out a steal in full court pressure, and her layup with :35.8 remaining made it a one-possession ball game at 55-52.
King was fouled with :25.5 to go, and the women nearly got the break they needed on the front end of the bonus. King's free throw looked to be kicking out of the rim, before finally bouncing in. The resulting second toss was good to put the lead back at five, and EMU couldn't convert a contested layup on the other end.
The Quakers made then four more free throws to ice the decision.
While EMU rebounded much better in the second half, they couldn't overcome shooting 30.8% from the floor and committing 17 turnovers. Guilford shot 43.9% and made just nine miscues, keeping the Royals from getting much transition offense.
Jess Rheinheimer was the women's main offensive threat, finishing with 16 points and six rebounds. Bianca Ygarza (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) managed 12 points. Baltimore finished with eight points and five assists. Steph Rheinheimer added six counters.
The 6-2 King was unstoppable for Guilford, hitting 11-of-13 shots for 27 points and seven rebounds. Oglesby had 14 points and six boards. The duo combined for two-third of GC's offense as well as for six blocked shots.