Sometimes in a back-and-forth game, the final decision comes down to a short span in the contest. That was the case Tuesday night as the Eastern Mennonite women opened their season at home against Averett. The game saw seven ties and six lead changes, but a six-minute span in the second was all the Cougars needed to sneak a 74-66 win away from EMU in Harrisonburg.

After Sara Lamneck (Swoope, Va./Buffalo Gap) grabbed her own missed shot and put it back in at the 8:29 mark, the Royals led 53-52. Averett then scored six unanswered to retake the lead, 58-53.

The women pulled the Cougar cushion back to within one possession for a few minutes, but another 6-0 run pushed the edge to 69-61 with 2:37 remaining. That capped a 17-8 span which proved too much for the Royals to overcome.

Freshman Stephanie Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) canned her only three pointer to draw EMU back to within 70-66 with 1:16 left to play, but the women wouldn't score again as Averett sealed the eight-point win with four free throws.

The Royals made only 34% of their shots in the second half, compared to 57% for the Cougars. That negated a nice first half for EMU, including a nine-point lead, which they held twice. The Royals had a 37-30 edge at halftime.

Coach Kevin Griffin said it was frustrating to have a solid game undone by a short span.

"We got good looks tonight," he said. "We are capable, but we just had a six-minute meltdown where the wheels fell off."

Lamneck led the way for EMU, as she scored 14 points to go with her nine rebounds. Freshman Kala Yoders (Myerstown, Pa./ELCO) came off the bench and was good for 12 points and four rebounds.

Marla Young (Fishersville, Va./Wilson Memorial) added 10 points, including a pair of treys, and four rebounds. Sophomore transfer Kori Penick (Lynchburg, Va./Virginia Episcopal) had 11 points and two blocks in her EMU debut.

The Cougars were led by Liz Martin's 24 points.

Aside from being outshot in the game, a big difference was at the free throw line, where Averett was 16-25 and the Royals were 8-12.

"We need to attack the basket and get to the free throw line," Griffin said.

Now 0-1, Eastern Mennonite travels to Lancaster, Pa., this weekend for the Franklin & Marshall Tournament. The Royals play Catholic Friday at 2:00pm and then again on Saturday at either 2:00pm or 6:00pm.