LEXINGTON, VA --- EMU's women took over the lead early and made it stick in a 71-59 win at Washington and Lee Tuesday night.  The Royals improve to 16-3 with their sixth straight win, including 10-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

W&L slips to 14-5 overall and 7-4 in the ODAC.

The two teams traded small leads over the opening minutes, with the Generals holding what turned out to be their last lead at 8-7.  Alisa Brown (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) hit a layup as Eastern Mennonite took over the momentum at the 14:34 mark and never let it go.

The upstart Generals tried to get back in front, but EMU had an answer every time.  The Royals led 34-28 at halftime.

The cushion shrunk to four early in the second, but a prolonged 10-1 run pushed it to 48-35 with 12:19 to play.  The lead stayed between eight and 16 points, until a late 9-0 streak bumped EMU's advantage to the biggest of the night at 71-54 with less than a minute to play.  Washington and Lee scored a couple of late buckets for the final margin.

Eastern Mennonite simply dominated the paint where they scored 40 of their points.  They also out-shot W&L 48% to 40%.

Shakeerah Sykes (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) was too much to handle, as she went off for 20 points and 11 rebounds.  Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) added 14 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Brown finished with 10 points and three assists.  Off the bench, Marla zumFelde (Goshen, Ind./Bethany Christian) had eight points and four boards while Nora Osei (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) picked out three steals.

Jackie Clifford led the Generals with 18 points and six rebounds.  Shelbi Hendricks had a game high 13 rebounds.

The first-place Royals, who also moved up to No. 24 in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll, host Randolph College on Saturday.  EMU will be looking to extend their 27-game home winning streak in the game, which tips off at 2:00pm.