SALEM, Va. – The Hornets are headed to the championship!

Thanks to a 58-41 ODAC Women's Basketball Tournament semi-final round win over Randolph-Macon, the Shenandoah University women's basketball team will be playing for its first-ever ODAC championship.

Shenandoah (15-13) has clinched its first winning season in 10 years with the semi-final round victory over Macon (18-9).

The win puts the Hornets into a 3:30 championship game Sunday versus either No. 3 Washington and Lee or No. 7 Roanoke. That game, like the quarterfinals and semi-finals, will be played at the Salem Civic Center.

Shenandoah will be playing for its third-ever conference championship and first since 2000. The Hornets won Dixie Conference titles in 1996 and 2000.

IN DEPTH

SU led basically throughout (holding the lead for 35:10 of the 40 minutes), leading 11-5 after one, 24-14 at the break and 36-24 after three as it held to R-MC to just 23 percent shooting for the contest. 

In taking the 10-point halftime lead, the Hornets saw Macon make just three of its 25 first half shots (12 percent) and commit 10 turnovers.

Following a sloppy end to the third quarter, in which the two teams combined for 10 turnovers and 14 missed shots in the final five minutes of the stanza, Shenandoah poured it on to start the fourth.

Leading 36-24, Regan Johnson opened the period by sandwiching a pair of 3-pointers around a Shannon Kuhn jumper that effectively broke the Yellow Jackets back.

Now staked to a 20-point lead, the Hornets never let their lead dip below 15 points the rest of the way.

Kuhn led the way with 19 points with Johnson adding 10 off the bench. Kuhn also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds as SU grabbed 49 of the game's 83 boards. 

QUOTABLE

"We came out with a purpose tonight," head coach Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft said. "The team was very focused on what we needed to do and we executed.

"I am so proud of the team but we aren't finished yet. We have one more game."

GAME NOTES

• The win is the sixth ever for SU over R-MC in 24 lifetime meetings
• Shenandoah is playing for its third championship in program history. SU won Dixie Conference championships in 1996 and 2000
• The ODAC championship would be the fourth in school history after baseball in 2015 and 2018 and field hockey in 2016
• Shenandoah shot 45 percent for the game (23-of-51)
• The Hornets had a 49-34 edge on the glass
• Macon did not have a player score in double figures
• The SU bench outscored Macon's bench 25-8

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