For Immediate Release January 29, 2000
Maroons Finally Beat Thomas More, 85-77
Sarah Dingledine Scores 16, Barrett Has 16 Boards
Roanoke vs. Thomas More Box Score
SALEM, VA--For the Roanoke College women’s basketball team, the fourth time was the charm, at least against Thomas More (KY). After suffering losses in the first three meetings between the two schools, the Maroons finally got a win, this an 85-77 victory in Salem on Saturday afternoon. The win propels Roanoke to 12-5 on the season, the Saints fall to 11-10. Trailing by four (75-71) with just 3:31 left in the game, Roanoke outscored TMC 14-2 the rest of the way to pick up its 12th win of the season. “This was probably our best game of the season,” noted Roanoke head coach Susan Dunagan, who was coaching in her 500th career game. “The kids left everything out on the floor. They should be proud of themselves; I’m proud of them.”
The Maroons were behind by two at the half, 37-35, but saw the Saints score the first eight points of the second frame. Thomas More pushed its lead to as many as 12 points, before going cold from the field late in the half. The Maroons’ full court press created 19 TMC turnovers, 10 coming in the second half. RC turned the ball over just 13 times.
Sarah Dingledine (Standardsville, VA/William Monroe) led all scorers in the game, knocking down 16 points. She also had seven rebounds and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Crystal Barrett (Roanoke, VA/Northside) scored just six points, but controlled the boards grabbing 16 rebounds, her second-best total of the season. Gina Guthrie (New Castle, VA/Craig County) had four points at the half, but went 3-for-3 from the floor in the second half to finish with 12 points.
At the half, Thomas More held a 12-3 advantage from the foul line, but Roanoke allowed just two TMC free throws in the second half, while scoring nine itself. In all, Roanoke went 12-for-13 from the charity stripe in the contest.
The Saints had two players score 15 points in the game. Holly Roberts and Donna Baker each tallied 15, with Roberts canning three three-pointers and Baker two. The Saints trailed for the first 10 minutes of the contest, but used a 10-2 run midway through the opening stanza to take over the lead on the scoreboard. Nine of those 10 points came on three three-pointers in the span of 1:07.
The Royals of Eastern Mennonite University come to town on Monday night. The Maroons look to avenge a 74-69 loss to the Royals earlier this season. Game time in Roanoke’s Bast Center is 7:00 pm on Monday.