Bridgewater Stuns R-MC, Meets VWC in Finals

Eagles Recover from Early Deficit to Post Win

March 1, 2008  -  Box Score

SALEM, Va. --- Bridgewater College recovered from an early 22-4 deficit to stun #2 seed Randolph-Macon College, 70-64, in the second women’s semifinal of the ODAC Basketball Tournament.  The Eagles, now 14-13 overall, square off with Virginia Wesleyan College in the championship game on Sunday.  Randolph-Macon bows out with a 22-5 overall record.

The Jackets jumped out to an early 22-4 lead that included a 19-0 run over a 3:31 span.  Bridgewater leapt back into the contest with a 14-4 run of its own to bring itself within four at 22-18 with 5:33 to play.  The teams traded buckets for the rest of the half with R-MC going into the break ahead, 31-25.

Randolph-Macon opened with a few quick scores to move out to a 36-25 lead just 1:14 into the second half.  Bridgewater put another streak together, pulling within two at 40-38 with 16:32 to play.

The Yellow Jackets reasserted themselves and pushed to a seven-point advantage at the 13:43 mark, but a pair of three pointers by Jennifer Saunders forced an R-MC timeout with the Jackets’ lead down to one at 45-44.

The margin hovered around three points until two Nikki Sydnor free throws and a Bianca Booker lay-up game BC a five-point lead with 8:10 to play. 

Jessica Timberlake, saddled with four fouls early in the half, made up for her time missed with a four-point play that put BC ahead 57-65 with 4:32 to go.  Amanda Hiltunen brought Randolph-Macon back with seven straight points thanks to a pair of free throws, a lay-up and her second three-pointer of the game with 2:09 to play to pull R-MC within one at 65-64.

Following a few missed shots on both sides, Jordan Burkholder and Kristin Bosserman put the game away for Bridgewater with a pair of lay-ups and a free throw before dribbling out a the clock.

Saunders led four Eagles in double figures with 17 points including a 3-for-6 day behind the arc.  She added seven rebounds to her stat line.  Bosserman dropped in 14 points and three more makes from long distance.  Timberlake notched 12 points and four steals, and Burkholder chipped in 11 points.

Lost in the defeat was a banner day for Lindsay Riesbeck.  The R-MC All-ODAC first team selection notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds while also tying the ODAC tournament single game record for blocked shots with seven.  Combined with her four rejections on Thursday in a win over Washington and Lee University, Riesbeck now owns the cumulative tournament record with 11 blocked shots.

Molly Ariail led all scorers and three Jackets in double digits with 20 points and 11 rebounds.  Hiltunen finished with 16 points and five steals.

Bridgewater meets Virginia Wesleyan in the championship game on Sunday, March 2.  Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. in the Salem Civic Center.  The Eagles will be going for their third ODAC title and first since 1999 when they defeated R-MC 75-71 in overtime.  The Marlins will be going for the first ODAC women’s basketball title in school history.