For Immediate Release February 17, 2000
McConnell Scores 16 in Win Over HU
Maroons Close Out Regular Season with 18-6 Record, 15-5 in the ODAC
Roanoke vs. Hollins Box Score
SALEM, VA--It wasn’t easy, but the Roanoke College women’s basketball team defeated Hollins University on Thursday night, 81-69, in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference contest. The Maroons head into next weekend’s ODAC tournament with an 18-6 record and close out their 1999-2000 conference slate with a 15-5 mark. Hollins falls to 4-19 on the year, 1-18 in the conference. The Maroons went into the half with a slim 32-31 lead and could not put distance between themselves and Hollins in the early stages of the second half. Hollins took the lead, 46-44, with 11:58 left in the game, but the Maroons went on a 5-0 run over the next 50 seconds to take the lead for good. It wasn’t until the 6:29 mark that RC was able to push its lead to double-digits, that coming in the midst of a 8-0 run.
The first half was even closer, with neither team able to take more than a five-point lead. The Maroons took that five-point advantage with 3:39 to go in the opening stanza, but saw Hollins hit four free throws in the final 1:30 of the half to cut the lead to just one, as it would go into halftime. The lead would change hands 10 times during the game.
On senior night at Roanoke, senior point guard Carrie McConnell (Radford, VA/Pulaksi County) scored a team high 16 points to lead the Maroons to the win. McConnell scored nine of her 16 markers from the free throw line, where the Maroons converted 25 of their 38 attempts. Crystal Barrett (Roanoke, VA/Northside) scored 13 points for Roanoke, while grabbing nine boards. In her final regular season contest, Cheryl Rhodes (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) added nine points to the RC effort, while fellow senior Sarah Dingledine (Standardsville, VA/William Monroe) matched RC’s top rebounder with nine. The Maroons overcame 25 turnovers by forcing 30 Hollins turnovers and stealing the ball 13 times.
Mandy Nichols (Troutville, VA/Lord Boutetourt) led all scorers in the game, dropping in 20 for Hollins which is now just 1-40 against the Maroons since the 1976-77 season. Rosse Hopkins (Roanoke, VA/Northside) had 17 for Hollins, while Emily Ferrell (Roanoke, VA/Northside) added 14.
With their regular season completed, the Maroons await the outcome of several key games this Saturday to see what seed they will end up heading into the conference post-season. The Maroons can finish no lower than a tie for second place, but because of the tie-breaking system, that does not ensure RC of a second place seed going into the tournament which will be held at the Salem Civic Center on Thursday February 24 through Saturday the 26th.