After the women scored the first four of the game, they used an 11-2 run to spark to a 15-8 lead.聽 But the Eagles then clamped down on defense and held 91短视频 scoreless for nearly six minutes.聽 The home team rattled off 14 straight to go ahead 22-15.

The two played evenly into halftime, with BC holding a 31-25 edge at the break.

The opening minutes of the second were rough on the Royals, as the Eagles pushed their lead to the biggest of the game at 39-27.

But Eastern Mennonite’s tempo started to wear down BC and with the deficit at 44-32, the comeback began.聽 (Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor) finally knotted things up at 46-46 with a layup with 7:07 remaining.聽 (Fishersville, VA/Wilson Memorial) canned a three pointer, 91短视频’s first, on the next possession, giving the women their first lead since the first half.

(Manheim, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) drilled a big three and (Swoope, VA/Buffalo Gap) put in a bucket to push the edge to 56-49 with 3:13 to play.

The women then forced BC into a number of tough shots down the stretch as the lead never got below six.聽 Rheinheimer made 4-of-6 free throws to help ice the win.

Ygarza was a personal wrecking ball, as she charted a double double with game highs of 18 points and 15 rebounds.聽 She also had seven steals and three assists.

Rheinheimer was clutch down the stretch and finished with nine points.聽 Young had seven points and Lamneck added six with five rebounds.聽 (Pulaski, VA/Pulaski) was good for six rebounds and three steals.

Eastern Mennonite effectively reversed the shooting percentages from the first half, holding the Eagles to just 28% in the final 20.聽 Neither team shot particularly well, with 91短视频 coming in at 37% and BC at 36%.聽 The Royals had the biggest edge at the free throw line, going 13-20 compared to 7-13 for Bridgewater.

The women harassed Jessica Mullen to an 8-for-22 shooting night, as she led the home team with 17 points and six steals.

It was a key win for the Royals, who improve to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.聽 91短视频 is the lone undefeated team left in the league, and rest atop the ODAC standings with Guilford at 2-0.

Next up is a home date with traditional power Roanoke on Wednesday.聽 The Maroons have struggled to a 0-3 start.

“We have the talent to compete,” he said, “but I think seven of the top eight teams (in the ODAC) have three or four starters back which will make it incredibly difficult.聽 I think Randolph-Macon is a clear cut favorite and I don’t know after that.聽 I think if we can foster some confidence early we can be very dangerous by the end of the season.”

The Royals were 15-11 last year including fifth in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference at 13-7.聽 That team was mostly underclassmen.聽 Griffin returns four of his end-of-the-season starters and thinks the experience his players gained in 2010-11 will benefit them this year.

“The returners do have confidence even though we are young again,” he said.聽 “They recognize that a couple things have to happen:聽 if we play really hard and if we play smart, we have enough talent to beat people.聽 Last year we had some success when certain kids began to realize, ‘not only can I compete here, but I can succeed.'”

Two of Eastern Mennonite’s returning starters received ODAC awards in 2010-11.聽 Junior (Swoope, VA/Buffalo Gap) earned All-ODAC Honorable Mention honors while averaging 10.0 points and 8.1 rebounds. 聽Fellow front-liner (Myerstown, PA/ELCO) took over a starting role late and was named All-ODAC Honorable Mention and ODAC Rookie of the Year.聽 She averaged 12.0 points and 6.2 rebounds.

91短视频 did lose leading scorer Danielle Rittenhouse (13.6 PPG) who did not return to school.聽 Sophomores (Manheim, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) (8.2 PPG) and co-captain (Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor) (6.8 PPG) will also help fill the scoring void.

“What we’re hoping is that work ethic and experience translates into more success,” Griffin said.聽 “Just because you’re a year older doesn’t mean you’re a year better.聽 But those four did a lot last year, so the expectations have been raised for them.聽 They can’t do what they did last year, they need to do more.”

A lot will also be expected from the lone senior, (Fishersville, VA/Wilson Memorial), although it might not show up in a box score.

“She has leadership,” said Griffin of his other co-captain.聽 “She has integrity.聽 She is respected for her knowledge when she speaks.聽 She is highly respected for how she carries herself off the basketball floor: in the classroom, on the weekend.聽 Our kids view her as a moral leader as well as a basketball leader.”

The other returners all bring unique strengths to the team.聽 (Richmond, VA/Highland Springs) started 14 games at point guard and was second on the team with 49 assists.聽 (Orange, VA/Orange County) played all 26 games last year and was a lock-down defender.聽 (Bassett, VA/Bassett) played in 22 games and displays a continual positive intensity.

The incoming recruits obviously bolster 91短视频’s depth, but will also push some of the starters.

“Collective we feel that group of freshmen has a pretty high basketball IQ as well as their talent, so when things break down they can make plays and play basketball,” he said.聽 “We are going to have a hard time figuring out who plays.聽 We have a lot of good pieces and we’ll have to figure out the role of each piece.”

The Royals were third in the ODAC scoring 69.2 points per game, and Griffin hopes his added depth will allow him to push the tempo more this year.

“The style will be faster,” he said, “so we’re hoping it frees the kids up to play to exhaustion and free up more minutes for other kids.聽 Some of our returners played a lot of minutes last year, but we’re hoping to balance that a little more.”

Another area Griffin hopes to improve is forcing turnovers and turning that into scoring.聽 The women were ninth out of eleven ODAC teams in steals and had a -0.35 turnover margin.

“I think we’ll be better at it simply because we have more kids that can handle the ball well,” he said of turnovers.聽 “I know that we’re young but I feel like the group that we have will hopefully value the ball more and in turn create more havoc in a game whereby we can benefit from causing other people to not take care of the ball or creating turnovers.”

The women won’t have much time to prepare for the 20-game ODAC slate.聽 After hosting a season-opening classic on Nov. 18-19, Eastern Mennonite hits the road to take on Randolph-Macon on Nov. 22.聽 The Royals also travel to Bridgewater and host Roanoke in November, pitting them against the ODAC’s top three teams from last year in the season’s first five games.

Each school was allowed to nominate six deserving student-athletes who were at least a sophomore, not in their first year at the institution, and had a minimum of a 3.2 grade point average. The team includes all levels of college athletics in Virginia.

2010-11 91短视频 VaSID Academic All-State Team

Monika Burkholder, Women’s Volleyball, Sr., Linville, Va., Art
Abby Diffenbach, Women’s Soccer, Sr., Lancaster, Pa., Nursing
Ryan Eshleman, Men’s Soccer, So., Harrisonburg, Va., Biology (Pre Medicine)/Philosophy & Theology
Sara Lamneck, Women’s Basketball, So., Swoope, Va., Psychology
Vanessa Landis, Field Hockey, Sr., Quakertown, Pa., Biology
Elisa Troyer, Women’s Volleyball, Sr., Harrisonburg, Va., Biochemistry (Pre Medicine)

The Maroons were on fire in the first half, hitting 6-of-11 three pointers to grab a 37-28 lead at the break.

Sophomore Danielle Rittenhouse keyed 91短视频’s second half comeback and finished with a game high 21 points.

Roanoke led by 11 a number of times in the second, including after three-point play from Nicci Moats with 14:26 remaining. But that’s when the Royals found their lightning in a bottle.

91短视频 started forcing turnovers, getting to the free throw line and getting the breaks. Danielle Rittenhouse (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) canned a triple with 11:12 to go, completing an 11-0 run which tied the score at 48-48.

The Maroons regrouped and the teams traded leads for the next nine minutes before the Royals’ defense again took over.

Trailing 61-60 with 2:25 left, 91短视频 put the clamps on Roanoke and didn’t allow another point.

Rittenhouse hit her third three pointer of the afternoon to put the women back ahead at 63-61. The Maroons turned the ball over on six straight possessions and the Royals went 5-for-6 from the free throw line over the final two minutes to seal the upset.

Eastern Mennonite forced the Maroons into 26 turnovers in the game, including 15 in the second half. They also limited RC to 29% shooting in the second, including 0-4 from long range.

The Royals had just 18 turnovers and made the edge in the game by going 19-26 from the free throw line. Roanoke was 11-16 from the stripe.

Rittenhouse scored 14 in the second half and led all scorers with 21. She hit 6-of-10 shots, including 3-of-6 from long range. Rittenhouse was also 6-6 in free throws.

Kala Yoders (Myerstown, Pa./ELCO) had 12 points and Sara Lamneck (Swoope, Va./Buffalo Gap) added 11 and four assists. Each of the three women had a pair of steals.

Moats finished with 15 rebounds and 9 points for the Maroons. Jordan Gholson added 17 points and 9 rebounds.

The win pushes Eastern Mennonite to 12-9 overall and 10-6 in the ODAC. The Royals also take over fourth place in the conference with the key win. Roanoke slips to 12-6 and 11-3.

The Royals have a week off before taking on Virginia Wesleyan on the road next Saturday. Game time for the women’s final regular season road game is 4 p.m.

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