Reigning Old Dominion Athletic Conference Player of the Week Molly Ariail led all scorers with 22 points while pulling down 16 rebounds as the Randolph-Macon College Yellow Jackets defeated the Eastern Mennonite University women's basketball team, 72-65, Wednesday night in Ashland, Va.

Randolph-Macon runs their record to 15-2 overall and 11-2 in the ODAC. EMU falls to 12-5 on the season, 7-5 in the conference.

Danielle Scott (Summit, NJ/Summit) led the Lady Royals with 17 points. Ebony Dennis (Baltimore, Md./Western) tallied her fifth double-double of the season, and second straight while scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds against the Yellow Jackets.

Lindsay Riesbeck was the other Randolph-Macon player to record double figures in points as the senior forward chipped in 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field.

Brittany Snyder (Raphine, Va./Riverheads) registered 14 points, including a 3-of-4 mark from behind the arc.

"We had to dig ourselves out of an early hole that really put us behind," explained head coach Kevin Griffin. "We did ok on the boards, but the theme for tonight was not getting to the free throw line. They did and had success at it, especially in the second half."

With just under three minutes off the clock in the first half the Lady Royals found themselves down 10-2 as Randolph-Macon started off the game with an 8-0 run. The Yellow Jacket led grew to 13 points before EMU was able to chip away at the deficit and climb back to only four of the lead. A brief 4-0 swing by RMC increased the home team's advantage back up to eight, but the Lady Royals responded with six unanswered points to close the gap to only two (21-19).

The Lady Royals took their first lead of the game at the 6:05 mark as Scott hit the go-ahead layup, putting EMU up 27-26. A back-and-forth battle ensued for the remaineder of the half with Randolph-Macon squeeking out a two-point edge as the teams headed into the locker room.

Ariail scored 16 of her 22 points in the first half.

In the second frame EMU got to the free throw line with Dennis sinking both attempts, tying the game at 33. The next four minutes went by with neither team able to get past a two-point advantage. A long ball by Jillian Asay put the home team up four (44-40, 16:59) with the lead growing to 10 at the 14:05 mark as Amanda Hiltunen sank another three for the Yellow Jackets.

EMU kept the game close, and in the waning minutes a layup by Dennis put the Lady Royals down only four (69-65, 1:32 left). The visiting team put the Yellow Jackets on the free throw line, hoping for two missed shots and an opportunity to take the lead. Renee Stein seemingly iced the game for Randolph-Macon, sinking both free throw attempts with less than a minute left. Maggie Coy sank 1-of-2 free throw attempts for RMC to close out the scoring.

Stein finished with eight points and a pair of assists for Randolph-Macon.

Marla Young (Fishersville, Va./Wilson Memorial) had eight points off the bench.

"We played hard, but I'm just not sure we played smart tonight," added Griffin. "If we played smarter, and put ourselves on the free throw line maybe the outcome would've been different. Give them credit, they played a terrific game. Ariail and Riesbeck were outstanding for them tonight."

The Lady Royals will stay on the road as they travel to Virginia Beach, Va., to take on the Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan College on Saturday, January 31, at 4 p.m.