Box Score
HARRISONBURG, Va. - Bridgewater outscored Eastern Mennonite 30-19 in the fourth quarter Wednesday night to take a 90-82 victory over the rival Royals at Yoder Arena.
With the victory Wednesday, the Eagles clinched at least the No. 3 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and will earn a bye into the quarterfinals. Bridgewater, now-14-10 overall and 13-4 in the ODAC, wraps up the regular season on Saturday with a road trip to Emory & Henry. A win over the Wasps would give the Eagles the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
The Eagles trailed by three, 63-60, entering the fourth quarter and then junior guard Ahlia Moone took over.
Moone got off to a quick start with six early points, but also picked up two quick fouls. Hampered by foul trouble, Moone had just six points entering the final quarter. She poured in 21 points in the final 10 minutes to lead the Eagles' fourth-quarter surge.
Moone converted a three-point play on the first possession of the fourth quarter to pull the Eagles even at 63-63. EMU's Emily McCombs responded with five points to spark a 7-0 Royals' spurt and suddenly the home team was up 70-63 with 8:20 left in the game.
Moone knocked down a 3-pointer for the Eagles, but Chrissy Delawder answered with a layup to keep the Royals ahead 72-66. Lindsay Estes swished an open 3-pointer to pull the Eagles to within three before a bucket by Constance Komara pushed the EMU advantage to 74-69 with 6:42 remaining.
Bridgewater then reeled off eight straight points to take the lead for good. Moone drove hard to the bucket and converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to two before a 3-pointer by Estes gave the Eagles the lead, 75-74, with six minutes to go.
Moone capped the 8-0 spurt with another driving layup, giving the Eagles a 77-74 cushion with 5:37 left.
After a layup by Chloe Roach sliced the Eagles' lead to one, 77-76, Moone scored seven straight points to give the Eagles' some breathing room at 84-76 with 3:41 remaining in the game.
Delawder scored inside for the Royals but Erika Nettles hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to put the Eagles on top 87-78 with just 2:25 left on the clock.
Moone finished the game with 27 points in less than 17 minutes of court time. She hit 9-of-14 shots, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, Moone also made 6-of-7 foul shots. The Eagles got big points off the bench from Estes with 15 points and Nettles with 14. Mary Ruth Shifflett also had a productive night with 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Delawder led four Royals in double digits with 17 points. She also grabbed 11 rebounds. Roach scored 16 points while McCombs and Lexi Deffenbaugh each finished with 15 points.
Bridgewater had one of its best shooting nights of the season, making 39.1 percent from the floor (34-for-87) and 38.9 percent from 3-point range (14-for-36). The Eagles also owned the boards by a 52-38 margin. Diamond Huskey and Madison Baum each pulled down seven rebounds to match Shifflett's work on the glass.