LEXINGTON, Va. – Roanoke College used a pair of significant runs in the first half to post a 74-60 victory over Washington and Lee in ODAC women's basketball action on Saturday at the Warner Center.

The Maroons (8-11, 3-7) grabbed control of the game late in the first quarter with a 12-1 run.  The Generals (8-10, 4-6) led 14-13 with 2:35 left in the opening period after junior forward Emma Redding (Allentown, Pa. / Central Catholic) split a pair of free throws.  Junior guard Allison Yeaw started the run with a three-pointer at the 2:12 mark, and senior forward Cary Beahm led the charge with six points during the stretch that ended with the Maroons leading 25-15 at the 9:11 mark of the second period.

W&L ended the run with a three-pointer from first-year guard Taylor Casey (Brentwood, Tenn. / Franklin Road Academy) at the 8:08 mark, and the Generals slowly made progress at getting back into the contest, eventually cutting it to a five-point game (31-26) on a layup by junior guard Emily Perszyk (Greendale, Wis. / Greendale) with 4:46 left before the break. 

Yeaw jump-started a second rally for RC the next time down the floor, hitting another triple that was the start of a 16-3 run to close the first half.  Yeaw scored eight points total during the surge that gave the visitors a 47-29 lead at the intermission.

The Blue & White came out of the halftime with new energy and opened the third period with a 15-2 run that sliced it to a five-point game (49-44) with 4:30 left.  Casey got things started with a three-pointer just 12 seconds into quarter, while Perszyk scored 10 points including a pair of three-pointers.  That would be as close as the Generals would get, however, as Beahm hit a jumper at 4:23 that started a quick 8-0 spurt that pushed the Roanoke lead back to double-digits (57-44), and the Generals would get no closer than a nine-point deficit for the remainder of the contest.

W&L shot just 38.9 percent (21-54) from the floor and 7-of-25 (.280) from three-point range.  The Generals were also stymied on the offensive end by 20 turnovers.

Perszyk led the Blue & White with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists.  Casey finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, while junior forward Andrea Ferrero (Ridgefield, Conn. / Ridgefield) totaled eight points, six rebounds and three assists.

Roanoke, which ended a six-game losing streak to the Generals, shot 31-of-73 (.425) from the floor and committed just five turnovers leading to 19 more shots that W&L.  The Maroons received 21 points each from Beahm and senior guard Bridget Holleran.  Beahm added 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals and Holleran posted six rebounds, five assists and two steals.  Yeaw chipped in 14 points as well.

Washington and Lee returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Randolph-Macon for a 7:00 pm contest.

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