FERRUM, Va. – The Shenandoah University women's basketball team got back into the win column Saturday afternoon with a road conference victory over Ferrum College by a score of 75-44. The win improves the Hornets to 15-4 overall and 10-2 in the ODAC. This is the fifth consecutive season where Shenandoah has reached the 15-win mark, excluding the 20-21 season due to COVID-19 and only playing 11 games that year.
Maddie Kimble led all scorers with 17 points, going 8-12 from the field and 1-3 from deep while securing five rebounds, two assists, and a steal for the afternoon.
Kayla Maxson was the other Hornet in double-digits points with 13, on a 5-8 shooting performance from the floor and 2-4 from behind the arc, while converting her only trip to the charity stripe as well. It was a balanced attack for Shenandoah as 12 out of the 14 Hornets that got into the game contributed with points.
The Hornet defense was ferocious in the first quarter holding the host Panthers scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of the period and then only surrendering two free throws to hold Ferrum to four points. Meanwhile, the Hornet attack was busy building their lead, as the team led from start to finish. Kimble got the Hornets on the board first with an early jumper, before
Emily Williams converted on a layup on the assist from Kimble. Williams second field goal of the quarter pushed the lead back to four, before
Gabby Krystofiak nailed a three, again off an assist from
Maddie Kimble. With 3:30 left in the period, Kimble connected on her first three before scoring the final basket of the quarter for the Hornets to push the lead to 14-2.
Emily Williams and
Sydney Shepos picked up the assists on the final two baskets.
Maggie Rooklin cashed her first triple of the game early in the second to give Shenandoah their biggest lead of 13 with the score 19-6 off of
Zoe Smith's assist. The Ferrum defense held the Hornets scoreless for three minutes before Kimble got the scoring going for Shenandoah again pushing the lead back to 10 with just over five minutes to play in the half. After Kimble pushed the lead to 10, the Hornets would go on an 11-0 run using baskets from
Terese Greene,
Sydney Shepos,
Addisyn Banks, and another three from Krystofiak before surrendering a basket with four seconds left. The Hornets took a comfortable 32-13 lead into the break.
Emily Williams pushed the lead back to 21 early in the third before
Shawnise Campbell converted an and-one making the lead 37-15 in favor of the visitors. However, the Panthers rallied during the break and figured out their offensive game plan to try and claw back into the game. The third quarter was the only period that Ferrum outscored Shenandoah (18-16,) but the lead was too much to overcome. The combination of
Kayla Maxson,
Gabby Krystofiak, and
Maggie Rooklin rounded out the scoring for the Hornets, taking a 48-31 lead into the final quarter.
With the game in hand, the Hornets continued to build their lead with baskets from Williams, and Greene as well as free throws from
Addisyn Banks. The Hornet defense was also relentless, holding Ferrum to nine points over the last 6 minutes of play. The Zoe's, Star and Smith, built the lead back to 30 at 71-41, before
Meredith Lloyd split a pair of free throws, and drilled a three with 17 seconds left to give the senior four points for the afternoon.
UP NEXT
The Hornets continue their two-game road trip on Wednesday, as Shenandoah will travel to Lynchburg, Virginia for a conference matchup with Randolph. That game is scheduled to tipoff at 7 pm.
#GoSUHornets
