SALEM, Va. – Seventh-seeded Shenandoah University will play for its second consecutive ODAC women's basketball championship after dispatching No. 3 Bridgewater, 75-60, Saturday afternoon in the tournament semi-finals.
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Shenandoah (19-9) meets top-seeded Washington & Lee in Sunday's 1 p.m. championship contest.
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The Hornets defeated W&L (21-6) on its way to both the 2019 and 2022 titles.
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IN DEPTH
SU, which had lost to Bridgewater (20-6) in both regular season meetings this season, led virtually wire-to-wire in taking out the Eagles Saturday.
Terese Greene opened the game with a fastbreak layup and after BC answered back on the ensuing trip down the floor, the Hornets reeled off seven straight points to take a 9-2 lead by the 6:44 mark of the first.
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Junior
Madisen Kimble, who led all scorers with a career-high 32 points, capped that 7-0 run with the first of her career-best seven 3-pointers.
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Another SU run, this one 7-2, pushed the lead into double-digits for the first time at 16-6 with 1:26 remaining in the first.
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Kimble opened the second with another '3', giving Shenandoah an 11-point advantage. The lead never dipped back into single digits the rest of the way.
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Coach
Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft's club extended its lead by eight points in the second before playing Bridgewater virtually even over the final 20 minutes.
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In addition to Kimble's 32, Greene had 16 points and both
Gabby Krystofiak and
Shawnise Campbell 10 points each. Greene and Campbell added seven boards each.
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Shenandoah shot 41 percent (26 of 64) for the game including 53 percent (8 of 15) in that 22-point second quarter. Bridgewater shot 40 percent (23 of 57).
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The Hornets dominated on the glass, pulling down 42 of the game's 70 rebounds. This led to 32 points in the paint and 13 second-chance points.
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UP NEXT
The championship game is set for a 1 p.m. Sunday at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia.
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