ROANOKE, VA --- EMU's women took care of business on the road Saturday, as they never trailed in a 75-46 thumping of Hollins in Roanoke. The Royals improve to 16-6 overall and they have now won three in a row and five of their last six.
The win also keeps the women on pace for fourth place in the ODAC standings, tied with Washington and Lee. The two teams meet in Lexington to end the regular season next Saturday, in a game which will likely determine which team gets the final bye into the ODAC Tournament quarterfinals. Whichever team draws the No. 5 seed in the tourney will host a First Round game on Monday, Feb. 22.
The Royals have their home finale on Tuesday, hosting high-scoring Randolph-Macon. It will be Senior Recognition Night as well as a Play4Kay Game.
Eastern Mennonite opened by scoring the first six points against Hollins, including a triple from Myneshia Walker (Freeman, Va./Brunswick). Lindsey Krisak (Alexandria, Va./Edison) added a longball to put the lead into double figures just 4:09 in at 13-3. The women led 25-12 after the first period.
The outcome was never really in question. EMU led 65-37 after three, before the scoring pace slowed down with the bench players on the floor.
The women used a balanced attack as they out-shot Hollins 48% to 33% and had a 44-30 rebounding advantage. Center Shaneyea Conwell (Newport News, Va/Warwick) scored a team high 13 with five rebounds. Walker, Krisak and Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) each scored 12. Rheinheimer added seven rebounds and four assists, while Walker and Krisak each added three handouts. The Royals had 24 assists on their 28 made field goals.
Alicia Ygarza (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) led all players with seven assists and added five rebounds.
Nikki Valencia paced Hollins with 15 points and five assists. Auburn Smith had 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.