SALEM, Va. – The seventh-seeded and defending ODAC champion Shenandoah University women's basketball team defeated second-seeded Randolph-Macon, 66-57, Thursday evening in the quarterfinals of the 2023 ODAC Basketball Tournament.
The Hornets (18-9) overcame an early double-digit deficit en route to the upset win over the Yellow Jackets (19-7).
IN BRIEF
Shenandoah opened the game with an and-one basket but Randolph-Macon held the victors to four points for the rest of the quarter. Shenandoah shot 1 for 9 from the field in the stanza as R-MC jumped out to a 19-7 lead.
In a game of runs, Shenandoah fired back with a 22-10 second quarter to knot the contest at 29-29 at the break. The Hornets tied up the game at 29 thanks to a
Shawnise Campbell stick back as the halftime buzzer sounded.
SU improved its shooting percentage from the first by shooting 55% (8 for 15) in the second.
The Yellow Jackets went on their last big run of the game, outscoring SU 12-0 over an eight-minute span from the end of the third to the beginning of the fourth to take a 45-39 lead with nine minutes remaining.
Momentum swung back one last time in the middle of the fourth with a
Gabby Krystofiak '3' that put the eventual victors up by five, 52-47, with 5:08 to play. Campbell, who finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, had given SU the lead for good on a three-point play 47 seconds before Krystofiak's '3'.
The Hornets capped off the tournament win by going 8 for 8 from the charity stripe in the final 40 seconds of the win with Campbell making the first four of those opportunities.
Campbell's double-double is her second consecutive of the tournament and seventh of the season.
Terese Greene led Shenandoah with 22 points with
Madisen Kimble adding 14 of her own. All three women were announced as All-ODAC honorees Wednesday morning.
The Yellow Jackets out-rebounded the Hornets by 10 at the half but the Hornets had the plus three on the boards at the final buzzer.
QUOTE FROM COACH
"Our girls could've quit after the first," head coach
Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft said. "They stayed committed and dug in for three quarters for the win." "I'm so proud of them."
UP NEXT
The Hornets play the winner of the Bridgewater vs Roanoke game at 3 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals.
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