The Eastern Mennonite University women's basketball team has now won seven straight games as the Lady Royals never trailed in their conference match-up with Randolph College on their way to a 67-40 win Friday night in Lynchburg, Va.

EMU now stands at 14-3 overall and 10-2 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference while Randolph falls to 5-11 on the year and 3-9 in the ODAC.

Junior forward Carolyn Riley (Warrenton, Va./Liberty-Bealeton) led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds. Senior center Jolene Kratz (Telford, Pa./Christopher Dock) had eight points and seven rebounds.

Randolph was paced by Lindsay Cross who finished with 14 points, and eight rebounds with Sam Schaffstall recording nine points, four rebounds, and four steals.

"It was a total team effort tonight and our defense was just outstanding from the onset," commented EMU head coach Kevin Griffin. "Dana Powell (Roanoke, Va./Northside) played really tough on defense tonight and our bench gave us some great minutes down the stretch."

EMU never trailed in the game as the visiting Lady Royals scored the first two points of the contest with 1:32 off the clock. The Lady Royals went up by 20 (25-5) with 7:35 remaining in the half on a bucket by freshman Brittany Snyder (Raphine, Va./Riverheads). Snyder had four points in the half and recorded eight points and three assists for the game.

The Lady Royals entered the locker room with a 22 point lead while shooting 42 percent in the first half (15-of-35). EMU continued to pour on the offense in the second half with senior guard Tara Jones (Richmond, Va./Meadowbrook) scoring a team high seven points in the half to go along with an additional six points from Kratz. Sophomore forward Lele Shumate (McDowell, Va./Highland Co.) had four points and three assists for EMU in the second half with the visiting Lady Royals shooting an even 50 percent (14-of-28) in the half.

Sophomore guard Melissa Lewis (Stuarts Draft, Va./Stuarts Draft) had three points, five assists, and three steals off the bench for EMU.

"They (Randolph) have some of the top rebounders in the conference and we knew we had to step it up on defense tonight," added Griffin.

The Lady Royals will now look for some payback as EMU invades Lynchburg, Va., in a clash with the Hornets on Saturday, February 2, at 4 p.m. Lynchburg College defeated EMU in Yoder Arena on January 11, 68-55, for the Lady Royals only blemish that month.