Roanoke jumps out to big lead, holds off Green Terror in NCAA first round

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Jordan Gholson netted 22 points to lead Roanoke to a 77-66 victory over McDaniel in the first round of the NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament hosted by Christopher Newport on Friday.

The Maroons (24-3) jumped out to a 31-11 lead 12:33 into the game and the Green Terror (20-7) could never recover, despite closing the deficit to five with 6:31 to play.

Katelyn Fischer (Reisterstown, Md./Seton Keough) led McDaniel with 16 points while Ali Moreland (Davidsonville, Md./South River) contributed 16 to finish her career with 1,127 points. Ashley Lyles (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) added 14 points.

Jalessa Osbourne added 19 points for Roanoke while Lindsay Skaff had 10 for the Maroons, who advance to Saturday's second round against the winner of the Christopher Newport/Washington and Lee game.

The Green Terror falls to 3-5 all-time in the NCAA tournament, including 0-5 away from the Gill Center, after the Maroons shot 11-for-20 from behind the 3-point line.

Osbourne drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 15:37 to play in the first half, extending Roanoke's lead to 11-2 and force a McDaniel timeout.

With 11:21 on the clock, Fischer drained a 3-pointer from the left corner to halt a 15-3 start by the Maroons.

During the opening stretch, the Green Terror went 1-for-12 from the floor with five turnovers. The only field goal came from Moreland with 17:55 on the clock.

Back-to-back Roanoke triples pushed the lead to 21-6 with 10:23 to play in the first half.

A Gholson banked 3-pointer pushed the lead to 24-6 with 9:18 showing.

Two Fischer treys made it a 31-14 game with 7:06 to play and a timeout. Out of the Maroon stoppage, the Green Terror - behind triples from Fischer and Moreland - put together an 8-0 run to pull within 31-19 with just 1:03 later.

A Cara Thompson (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) basket-and-foul play 2:58 to play closed the deficit to 34-26.

After a Fischer 3-pointer made it a 38-29 game with 35 seconds to play in the opening half, the Maroons were able to respond with a Lindsay Skaff triple in the left corner to make it a 41-29 lead at the break.

After Thompson hit a pull-up jumper to cut the deficit to 10, Roanoke reeled off nine straight points to extend its lead to 50-31 with 16:06 to play.

A Whitney Snoops (Millersville, Md./Archbishop Spalding) layup snapped the run with 14:44 on the clock, sparking a 15-6 run that included a nine straight to close the deficit to 56-46 with 8:58 on the clock.

A Moreland triple in the right corner made it a 58-53 game with 6:31 showing but Osborne responded with a trey of her own 20 seconds later to stretch the lead back to eight.

Moreland took a defensive rebound coast-to-coast to pull the Green Terror within six with 4:54.

An Ashley Lyles (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) steal and finish off a Moreland bounce pass made it a 61-57 contest with 4:21 on the clock.

Gholson and Lyles exchanged baskets before Rebecca Bays rimmed home a 3-pointer to ignite another 8-0 run to seal the victory with 2:02 to play.

Baskets from Moreland and Thompson coupled with a Kim Acton (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) free throw closed the deficit to 71-64 before Osbourne hit both free throws with 46.1 seconds to play and Skaff canned a pair of charity tosses with 37.6 seconds left to set the final margin of victory.

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