SALEM, Va. - On the first day of the Susan Dunagan Holiday Classic on Thursday, the host Maroons (8-1) pulled away in the fourth quarter to hand a short-handed Eastern Women's Basketball squad (2-8) a 66-46 loss. The Eagles trailed by just five points after three quarters, but Roanoke outscored Eastern 23-8 to secure its triumph.
It was slow going for the Eagles in the contest's early stages as the Maroons jumped out to 8-2 lead in the opening three minutes. Sophomore center
Taryn Woodson helped to settle the Eastern offense down, scoring the Eagles first five points to cut the advantage to 8-5. Roanoke built its lead back up to seven with 2:51 to play in the quarter, but another basket from Woodson and a free throw from
Jeriyah Johnson made it a manageable 14-8 Maroons lead after one quarter of play.
Eastern played it best basketball in the second quarter, shooting six-of-14 from the field and outscoring the Maroons 15-9. Woodson and Johnson combined to score the quarter's first six points, tying the game at 14 with 6:35 to play. The two teams battled the rest of the first half, with neither leading by more than three points. With the Maroons holding a 21-18 advantage with 2:33 on the clock, the Eagles scored five straight points, which included baskets from
Wynter Bess and
Trinity Upton, to give Eastern its first lead. However, the Maroons were able to score at the buzzer to make it a 23-23 contest at the halftime break.
The Eagle's offense continued to hum in the third quarter, as baskets from Woodson and Upton, together with threes from Johnson and Bess, gave Eastern a game-high 33-28 lead with 6:37 to play in the period. However, the Maroons regrouped, ending the third quarter on a 15-5 run to turn its five-point deficit into a five-point advantage. Roanoke carried that momentum over into the fourth quarter, allowing just eight points and holding the Eagles to just three more field goals the rest of the way.
"We are right there," Eastern Head Coach
Eric Houston said. "It was fatigue that did us in at the end because we were playing with a short bench. We will be ready for tomorrow."
Woodson recorded her fourth double-double of the season with season-highs in both points (18) and rebounds (14). Johnson was the Eagles' second double-digit scorer with 13 points to go along with six boards. Bess collected seven points and nine rebounds, while Upton also recorded seven point to go along with three boards. As a team, the Eagles held Roanoke to just 34.4 percent shooting (21-of-61), but the Maroons shot eight-of-17 (47.06 percent) in the final quarter.
Eastern will wrap up the Susan Dunagan Holiday Classic tomorrow evening against either Washington College or New Jersey City University. The contest is set to begin at 5:00 pm.
