February 26, 2011
Roy, Brown Power R-MC into Finals
Yellow Jackets to Face Roanoke for ODAC Title
SALEM, Va. --- Top-seeded Randolph-Macon used a
13-0 run midway through the first half to gain a lead that it would
not relinquish in posting a 79-66 win over the fourth-seeded
Washington and Lee women's basketball team in the semifinal round
of the ODAC Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Salem Civic
Center.
Top-seeded Randolph-Macon goes in search of its seventh ODAC crown
on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets have hoisted five conference
plaques since 2003, last winning in 2009. Roanoke has claimed
an ODAC-best 13 women's basketball championships, but hasn't won a
title since the 2000 season.
Sunday will mark the third championship-deciding meeting between
R-MC and RC. The Maroons topped the Yellow Jackets, 85-75, in
1994. Randolph-Macon returned the favor in 1996, defeating
Roanoke, 84-73. This year, R-MC won both regular season
meetings; 73-71 on January 14 at Roanoke, and 56-45 on February 18
in Ashland.
Following a jumper from sophomore forward Katy Wilson that
gave the Generals (19-8) an 11-8 advantage at the 9:00 minute mark
of the first half, R-MC (21-7) scored the game's next 13 points,
including a pair of three-pointers from junior guard Maggie Roy, to
grab a 21-11 lead with 6:16 left to play.
W&L quickly trimmed its deficit to five points (23-18) on a
three pointer by senior guard Allie Long with 4:06 left in the
opening period, but the Yellow Jackets quickly pushed back out to a
10-point lead (28-18) and took a nine-point advantage (34-25) into
the break.
In the second half, R-MC matched the Generals shot-for-shot until
W&L used a 7-0 run to turn a 62-46 game into a 62-53 contest on
a triple from junior forward Kari Ann Pfannenstein with 5:24
to play.
The rally was short-lived however as Randolph-Macon came out of a
timeout and promptly increased its lead back to 14 points (67-53)
by the 4:03 mark as the Yellow Jackets dashed the Generals' hopes
of repeating as ODAC champs with the 13-point victory.
As a team, R-MC shot 51.7 percent from the floor (30-58), compared
to just 40.7 percent (24-59) for the Generals. The Yellow Jackets
also held a slim 36-31 advantage on the boards and each team
committed 17 turnovers.
W&L had five players score in double figures, led by 14 points
each from senior center Felice Herman (Fairfield, Pa./DeLone
Catholic) and junior guard Meg Ingram. Pfannenstein and Long each
tallied 11 points and junior forward Becca Bolton added 10
points.
Herman also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and Bolton added eight
boards three steals and three assists.
The Yellow Jackets were paced by Roy, each poured in a game-high 26
points. Junior forward Molly Brown added 19 points and nine
rebounds and junior center Taylor Wieczorek chipped in 12 points
and seven caroms.
With the win, the Yellow Jackets will await the winner of the other
semifinal matchup between No. 2 Roanoke and No. 7 Guilford for a
chance to claim the ODAC Tournament title. The championship game is
set for Sunday at 1:00 pm.
For the Generals, their season-ending win total of 19 games marks
the most in school history.
The Washington and Lee University sports information
department contributed to this release.
