The Royals have dug themselves out of a number of double digit deficits this season, but Thursday at the ODAC Quarterfinals they found a hole they couldn't get out of. Facing a veteran Washington & Lee team which won the 2010 ODAC Tournament, fifth-seeded Eastern Mennonite never led in a season-ending 86-56 loss.

It was the second straight season W&L ended the Royals' season. In last year's semifinals, EMU lost 62-47.

The Generals looked like a team full of upperclassmen in picking apart the EMU defense and jumping to a 13-5 lead. But after a timeout, the Royals settled down and quickly trimmed the lead to 15-12 after a Bianca Ygarza (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) layup at the 12:57 mark.

W&L held off the surge and built up a ten-point edge at 24-14. After five Royals' points, the Generals methodically scored 12 unanswered to balloon a 36-19 advantage.

It was still a 16-point game at halftime, 41-26, as both teams shot relatively well but EMU had nine turnovers to the Generals' four.

Another big key in the first half was the low amount of fouls called (11 total), denying the women a staple of their offense - free throws.

Washington & Lee started the second stanza with a flurry of three pointers, pushing the lead to 56-33. EMU never recovered from the early knockout punch and took the season-ending loss.

Despite shooting 52% from the floor, the Royals couldn't get to the foul line, taking only 11 attempts in the game. EMU averaged 25.2 free throw attempts during the regular season.

The Generals committed just 12 turnovers and shot 55% in the game. They were also a blazing 12-22 from long range for 55%.

ODAC Rookie of the Year Kala Yoders (Myerstown, Pa./ELCO) scored 13 points in the second and led EMU with 16 in the game. Ygarza came in with 10.

Leading scorer Danielle Rittenhouse (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) was limited to five points. She averaged 14.0 a contest during the season.

The loss ends EMU's year at 15-11. The young women were 13-7 in ODAC in the regular season. Coach Kevin Griffin has finished with a .500 record or better in each of his six seasons.