HARRISONBURG, VA --- EMU's basketball women overcame a 17-point deficit to win a double overtime thriller over rival Bridgewater Tuesday night, 112-107. Point guard Alicia Ygarza (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) made the difference with her first career triple double, helping the Royals close regulation on a 10-2 run to force the extra time, where they eventually won it.
Eastern Mennonite improves to 9-2 overall and 2-1 in the ODAC in earning their 10th straight win over their local rivals. Bridgewater (5-6 / 1-2 ODAC) last beat the Royals in the 2010-11 season. The teams will meet again in Bridgewater on Feb. 3.
The Royals only led for 12 seconds during regulation as the Eagles started the game red-hot. BC's women shot 55.6% over the first two periods, including 6-for-8 from three-point range as they led 49-35 at halftime. The visitor's lead was as big as 17 points when they opened the second period with four straight triples to go up 31-14.
EMU tried to chip into the deficit in the third, using a 7-0 spurt to get within 57-49. But Bridgewater closed the frame on a 9-5 push, including a long three pointer from Briana Moore at the buzzer, to bump the cushion back up to 66-54 heading into the fourth.
Despite the Royals trying to make a dent, BC still had a double digit lead with less than five minutes to play at 77-66. Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) then drilled a three ball to get the women rolling. Center Shaneyea Conwell (Newport News, Va./Warwick) made an impact inside with four straight points, trimming things down to 77-73, but the Eagles got back-to-back buckets to go back up by eight points with 2:11 left.
Myneshia Walker (Freeman, Va./Brunswick) scored on a layup before Ygarza took over. The senior picked a steal and finished off a layup to cut it back to four with 1:30 to play. After a BC miss, Ygarza tracked down the rebound and fired a long pass to Rheinheimer for a fastbreak bucket, getting the women within 81-79 with 1:07 to go.
Ygarza then forced another steal and got a returned favor from Rheinheimer's assist to complete an 8-0 run to tie the score at 81-81 with 38 seconds left.
Cassidy Burkholder put BC back in front with 23 ticks left, but Ygarza rescued EMU by going to the hoop on a broken play to re-tie it. Burkholder missed a contested shot at the buzzer to send the game to the first overtime.
Walker opened extra time with a triple, giving the Royals their first lead since the 5:27 mark of the first period, a span of nearly 36 minutes. The three-point edge was the biggest by either team in the first OT, with two free throws from Burkholder at the 1:00 mark being the final points for either side. Both missed shots in the final minute, including Walker's three attempt in the closing seconds, as the crowd of 389 was treated to another round.
A new cast of players stepped up for EMU in the second OT. Rheinheimer won the opening tip, but sophomore Jazmine Carter (Fairfax, Va./Oakton) quickly found a streaking Sa'Mone Moore (Covington, Va./Covington) for an "and-one" just five seconds in. Moore converted the three-point play, and then was fouled after a steal 15 seconds later, making both free throws for a 97-92 lead.
Bridgewater got back-to-back layups to get within on, but Carter nailed a clutch three ball and Rheinheimer added a layup to push the edge to six at 102-96 with 3:23 showing.
After a second-chance bucket from the Eagles, Walker got a second-chance three pointer to bump the lead to 105-98. BC eventually got within 106-102 with 53 seconds left. The visitors then called a timeout, but were given an administrative technical as they had already used all of their timeouts. Rheinheimer iced things by making both technical free throws, and adding two more a second later to push the margin to eight.
The senior added two more to put the lead at 112-102 with 39 ticks left. Bridgewater added five points but the Royals wasted away the clock to the delight of the home crowd.
The Eagles ended with a shooting edge at 50.0% to 45.5%, including 10-20 from outside. But Eastern Mennonite made up for it by forcing turnovers and winning the glass. BC had 21 turnovers, including nine in the fourth period and overtime stanzas, compared to 16 total for EMU. The Royals also grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and had a 49-39 edge on the boards.
Ygarza was the catalyst with the best game of her four-year career. The point guard notched the first triple double in recent history for EMU, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and six steals while committing just two turnovers. The point, assist and steal totals were each career highs.
Rheinheimer finished with 35 points, including nine in the fourth period and eight more in the second OT. She was 10-10 from the free throw line, and added 12 rebounds and four blocked shots for a double double. The senior All-American also moved into fourth place in EMU history with 1,289 career points, just surpassing the 1,288 of Dawn Marker (1977-81).
Walker shot 4-for-7 from outside and dumped in a career high 19 points. Moore added 13 points while Carter also set a career best with 14 counters.
Burkholder led Bridgewater with 24 points, 11 rebounds and six steals before fouling out in the final minute. Jessica Lam was close behind with 23 tallies, while Moore canned all four of her triples and totaled 20 points.
Eastern Mennonite will take their six-game winning streak into another big ODAC game this weekend, travelling to Greensboro, N.C., to take on Guilford College (9-1 / 3-0 ODAC). Saturday's game is part of a doubleheader and will start at 4:30pm, immediately following the 2:00pm men's contest between EMU and Guilford.