SALEM, Va. – The Shenandoah University women's basketball team has a rematch with the Washington and Lee Generals in the ODAC Championship game on Sunday. Last year the Generals got the best of the Hornets via a 73-57 win in Salem, but Shenandoah is poised and looking for revenge. The Hornets tonight picked up a 65-49 victory of Roanoke in the final semifinal game in Salem. Shenandoah was led by
Emily Williams who had 12 points on 5-12 shooting and just missed a double-double by one rebound.
Maddie Kimble (5-8 from the floor, and 1-3 from deep) and
Terese Greene fresh off her 21-point performance last night to reach 1,000 points for her career, each had 11 points.
Gabby Krystofiak was 3-9 from the floor with eight points and three rebounds, while
Shawnise Campbell rounded out the scoring for the starters with four points and seven rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Shenandoah got off to a fast start quickly jumping out to a 9-0 lead behind back-to-back baskets from
Maddie Kimble.
Shawnise Campbell and
Emily Williams each chipped in with their first basket to complete the 9-0 run. Shenandoah held Roanoke scoreless for nearly the first three minutes of the game before the Maroons hit their first basket.
Emily Williams's jumper pushed the lead back to nine with just over five to play in the first. Roanoke went on a 4-0 run before that was stopped
Maddie Kimble hit the layup making the game 13-6. Krystofiak nailed a three pushing the lead to double-digits, before
Terese Greene scored the final basket for SU in the quarter. The Maroons tacked on four more points, and the Hornets took an 18-12 lead into the second.
The Hornet defense was stifling in the second as Shenandoah outscored the Maroons 20-4 in the quarter to take a 38-16 lead into the break.
Kayla Maxson got the scoring going for Shenandoah hitting a three just 15 seconds into the quarter, followed by
Gabby Krystofiak's layup, before Maxson connected on her second triple of the quarter to push the lead to 26
-12. Back-to-back
Emily Williams layups gave Shenandoah their biggest lead of 18 points for the game with under five minutes to play. The Hornets held Roanoke scoreless for nearly the first seven minutes of the quarter before Rose Sandee was able to score a layup. Free throws by Williams, sandwiched between jumpers from Greene and Kimble gave Shenandoah the biggest lead of the game of 24 before Roanoke got one more basket before the half ended.
Roanoke jumped out to a 5-0 run to start the third, but that lead was erased when
Gabby Krystofiak, and
Emily Williams hit jumpers of their own.
Sydney Shepos' layup at 4:29, pushed the Hornet lead to 26 as Shenandoah was in the driver's seat. Kimble's jumper, followed by a split pair of free throws from
Zoe Star made it a 27-point game as Roanoke attempted to climb back into the game.
Addisyn Banks came on late and third and immediately had an impact on the game, as she continued to hustle for rebounds before cashing in on a jumper making it a 55-30 game with under a minute to go in the quarter.
Banks started the fourth, as she ended the third, this time nailing a three off the opening possession for the Hornets.
Terese Greene hit another triple to answer the Maroon three. Roanoke went on an 8-0 run but
Zoe Smith stopped the bleeding by splitting a pair of free throws. With the clock ticking down,
Maggie Rooklin rattled in another Hornet three pushing the lead back to 18 in favor of the Hornets. Even though the Maroons got the final basket of the game, Shenandoah was able to just dribble the remaining seconds away, securing their spot in the ODAC Championship game with Washington and Lee on Sunday afternoon.
The Hornets improved their shooting from deep from the previous night, as Shenandoah went 1-18 from deep in the quarterfinal game against Lynchburg. Tonight, against Roanoke, the Hornets made seven more triples to go 8-21 from behind the arch. In the game, the Hornets led from wire to wire and this game was never in jeopardy. As mentioned before, the Hornets will take on the Generals in the ODAC Championship game. Shenandoah fell to the Generals last year 73-57, the Hornets did get the better of Washington and Lee earlier in the season beating the Generals 65-64 in Lexington back in January.
UP NEXT
Shenandoah will square off with Washington and Lee in the ODAC Championship game on Sunday afternoon in the Salem Civic Center for an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
#GoSUHornets
