Generally games with Guilford have a defensive flair to them.  Wednesday night in Greensboro, the EMU women exploded out of the gates against their league rivals and made a huge lead stick in the second en route to a 55-42 win.

The Royals (9-2/3-0 ODAC) have now beaten GC (7-5/1-2 ODAC) in seven straight meetings during the regular season.  The Quakers, however, have knocked Eastern Mennonite out of the ODAC Tournament in each of the past three years.

It took both teams a minute to get going in Wednesday's clash with Guilford finally taking the first 2-0 lead.  But National Player of the Week Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) answered with a three pointer and Royals took off.  Rheinheimer canned another triple as the women scored 10 straight to take control.  After a GC jumper, the run continued culminating in a Tia Byrd (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs) three pointer to balloon the edge to 21-4 at the 10:09 mark.

The scoring slowed down from that point, but EMU had the lead at 18 points a handful of times before strolling into halftime up 33-18.

The second half was much more back-and-forth until the Quakers held the women scoreless for a span of eight minutes.  EMU's defense kept Guilford at bay, however, as the home team only managed 10 points during the stretch to get within 44-39 with 6:55 to play.

The Royals then pitched a shutout for more than six minutes, rebuilding the cushion to 50-39 with less than a minute left.  Guilford tried to make things interesting, but the women hit 5-of-6 free throws over the final 30 seconds to produce the final 55-42 margin.

Outside of EMU's big run in the first half, the game was mostly defensive with the women shooting just 35%, their second-lowest total of the season.  They held the Quakers to just 27%, however, including 2-15 from three point range.  GC stayed in it by grabbing 21 offensive rebounds and holding a 49-39 advantage on the boards.  The home team also had more turnovers, though, at 18-14.

Shakeerah Sykes (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) led all players with 18 points and notched a double double with 11 boards to go with three steals.  Rheinheimer charted a double double as well with 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Marla zumFelde (Goshen, Ind./Bethany Christian) hit double figures with 12 points while Alicia Ygarza (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) grabbed eight rebounds.

Anais Weatherly led Guilford with 17 points, 12 rebounds and four steals, although she shot just 7-21 from the floor.

The Royals are on the road again this weekend, playing at Hollins University Saturday at 2:00pm.