VIRGINIA BEACH, VA --- When the defense is as smothering as it was Wednesday night, an average offensive output is more than enough. EMU's basketball women held host Virginia Wesleyan to just 26 points through the first three periods en route to a convincing 64-49 win.
The Royals scored the first 10 points and led by as many as 31 in improving to 12-5 overall and 5-4 in the ODAC. VWC slides to 7-11 and 5-5.
EMU took just 2:51 to score their first 10 points. Sa'Mone Moore (Covington, Va./Covington) had five of those early points, including the final three pointer. By contrast, the women didn't allow the Marlins their 10th point until the 7:31 mark of the second period. The Royals led 32-19 at halftime, bolstered by 16 points from Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite).
Lindsey Krisak (Alexandria, Va./Edison) caught fire in the third, scoring eight points as the women delivered the knockout blow with a 25-7 period score. Eastern Mennonite led 57-26 after three, holding VWC to 23% shooting.
The Royals ended with a 35% to 29% shooting advantage, and used 17 offensive rebounds for a 50-43 edge on the boards.
Rheinheimer racked up 22 points and eight rebounds, shooting 7-11 from the floor. Krisak finished with 13. Moore added eight points and seven rebounds. Shaneyea Conwell (Newport News, Va./Warwick) grabbed eight rebounds while Myneshia Walker (Freeman, Va./Brunswick) had seven. Each of the two women had four offensive boards.
Kelly Jones led Virginia Wesleyan with 15 points. Alexis Platt had 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Royals advance into a tie for fourth place in the ODAC standings with Roanoke along with Washington and Lee. EMU hosts the Maroons on Saturday, with tip-off at 2:00pm.
Rheinheimer Milestone
All-American Jess Rheinheimer took over third place on EMU's Career Scoring list during the game. The forward now has 1416 career points, surpassing Amanda Renalds' total of 1405 (2002-06). Emily Mullet (1999-2003) stands with 1891 at No. 2 while Missy Hensley (1988-92) is the leader at 2163.