EMORY, Va. – Host Emory and Henry held off Shenandoah University in an 80-71 ODAC women's basketball victory Saturday afternoon.

The Wasps (8-7, 3-3 ODAC) took a nine-point halftime lead over the Hornets (5-10, 1-5) and then held on as SU matched its hosts bucket for bucket in the second half.

E&H took control of the contest thanks to a 12-0 run midway through the first half

Leading 12-11 following a Brie Girouard jumper at 11:49, the Wasps scored the game's next 12 points in a span of just 1:46 to lead 24-11 by the 9:44 mark.

Junior Ashley McGhee finally snapped the streak with a 3-pointer at 9:44 before a Mary Severin layup 29 seconds later cut the deficit to single digits at 24-16.

An 8-5 Shenandoah run to complete the first half, started by a Kirstyn Arcata 3-pointer at 4:07, made it 40-31 in favor of the Wasps at the break.

Shenandoah battled hard for the entire second half and made matters interesting by cutting its deficit to five points at 7:45 and finally four points following a McGhee 3-pointer with 1:21 remaining.

E&H answered with Kristie Langley 3-pointer and then a Megan Jacoby fastbreak layup to provide the final margin of victory.

Arcata and Erin French both had 15 points for the Hornets with McGhee adding 11 and both Olivia Callan and Holly Chittenden 10 points.

Karina Farr had a game-high 20 for the hosts.

E&H shot 57 percent to 49 percent for SU with the Hornets grabbing 32 of the game's 62 rebounds.

French, thanks to a career-high 14 rebounds, posted her third double-double of the year.

Shenandoah travels to Eastern Mennonite on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. ODAC contest.

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