Eastern Mennonite University withstood a second half surge by Averett University as the Lady Royals claimed a 66-61 women's basketball win over the Cougars Saturday afternoon in Harrisonburg, Va.

EMU improves to 7-1 overall and remains 2-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference as they head into Christmas break. Averett falls to 3-3 on the season. The Cougars compete in the USA South conference where they have yet to play a game.

The team leaders in points were post players Miranda Wolfe (Verona, Va./Fort Defiance) and Danielle Scott (Summit, NJ/Summit) who each registered 12 points. Melissa Lewis (Stuarts Draft, Va./Stuarts Draft) and Marla Young (Fishersville, Va./Wilson Memorial) each had nine points for EMU with Lewis recording a team high four swipes.

Averett was paced by Kristyn Wharton with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double. Taylor Poirier had 13 points and a team best six assists.

"Our bench played well considering injuries and sickness," commented EMU head coach Kevin Griffin. "We struggled shooting the basketball for the second game, even with open looks. We've had three games this year where we have had teams shoot the ball well from behind the arc and we'll need to correct that as we head into the second half of the season."

The Cougars jumped on the board first and increased their lead to four points with 16:01 on the clock. EMU, which had made only 1-of-8 from the field in the first four minutes, got a layup from Kathleen Kitchen (Gainesville, Va./Brentsville District) to cut the deficit to two points. A follow-up basket from Wolfe and another bucket from Kitchen put EMU on top for the first time in the contest (8-6) with 14:33 remaining.

The two teams exchanged leads for the next three minutes before a Scott scored six unanswered points to put the home team up by five (16-11). Averett hit 1-of-2 free throw attempts with EMU countering on a Wolfe jumper. A three-point swing by the visiting team dropped the lead to only three points (18-15) for EMU, but the Royals, finally clicking on offense after a stagnant first 15 minutes, went on a 7-0 run to take their biggest lead of the half (25-15, 5:12 remaining). Averett methodically chipped away at the lead with Nikki Huffman and Wharton adding a pair of baskets from the free-throw line to close the gap to five at the break (32-27).

Scott led all scorers at the half with 10 points.

The first eight minutes of the second half led most to believe the Lady Royals were well on their way to an easy non-conference win. EMU went on another 7-0 run to put the Cougars down 14 (44-30) with only three minutes off the clock. Back-to-back baskets put Averett down only nine, but a bucket from Young and a jumper from Ebony Dennis (Baltimore, Md./Western) put the home team back up 10.

The momentum and the game completely shifted towards the Cougars midway through the second period as a 9-0, keyed by a Liz Martin long ball, saw Averett tie the game at 49 with 9:49 left in regulation. The Cougars continued to attack and took advantage of several missed opportunities for EMU. Averett capitalized on a missed three-pointer by EMU to swing a long pass down the court to Poirier who promptly drained the three-pointer, giving Averett their first lead since the 11:56 mark in the first half. The visiting team built up a four-point lead before back-to-back buckets from Wolfe and Lewis tied the game at 55 (7:14 remaining).

The two teams exchanged baskets until there was only 25 seconds remaining. The play of the game for EMU transpired at that time as Lewis pushed the ball down the court, slashing through traffic, and delivering a shot off the glass that put EMU up by three (64-61). Dennis then stole the ball on the Cougars next possession with Lewis hitting both free-throw attempts, icing the win.

"Danielle (Scott) had a good game, but we weren't able to get her the ball as much as we would like in the second half. Overall we played hard, and we had five kids score eight points or more. Were still a young team, and even with Averett going up by four on us I was really proud of the way we stayed focused and didn't panic."

Megan Grove (Greencastle, Pa./Shalom Christian) scored a career-high six points off the bench. Dennis finished with eight points, four rebounds, and a pair of steals for EMU.

The Lady Royals return to action on Saturday, January 3, as they host Hollins University at 2 p.m., in Yoder Arena.