HARRISONBURG, Va.- EMU Women's Basketball played its second home game in as many days on Saturday, playing host to Regent University in a battle of the Royals in Yoder Arena. EMU bounced back in a big way from their season-opening defeat Friday night with a convincing 83-59 win over Regent.
The home team utilized a balanced attack with 13 players scoring at least two points. Three EMU players scored double figures, led by
Jeriyah Osborne with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.
Lauren Townsend added 12 points, followed by
Grace Burke with 10 points.
Four EMU first-years scored their first career college points:
Taylor Linton,
Sarah Lynch,
Lauren Mayn, and
Emma Johnson.
Jada Waller and
Anabelle Simmons scored eight and four points respectively to follow up their first career collegiate points from Friday night's game.
EMU scored 80 points or more points in a game for the first time since an 80-61 home victory over Averett on Feb. 10, 2024.
Kennedy Shipman led the Regent effort with 19 points, 11 of which came from the free throw line.
Records: EMU 1-1 | Regent 0-1
Highlights
First Quarter
Regent lit up the scoreboard first with a three-pointer by Eva Giannini just 21 seconds into the game. EMU, however, answered quickly with back-to-back threes of their own, one each from Osborne and Burke, to take a lead that they would not surrender the rest of the game. Regent got within one at 9-8 thanks to another deep ball at the 6:45 mark, but EMU responded with five unanswered points, consisting of a Waller driving layup, a Burke free throw, and an Osborne driving layup. EMU outscored Regent 8-3 over the final two minutes of the opening frame to open up a 26-15 cushion heading into the second quarter.
Second Quarter
EMU carried over the positive momentum into the second quarter, starting off the period with a Simmons driving layup and an Osborne floater to double up Regent at 30-15. The two teams traded buckets for most of the period until the final 1:34, when EMU closed the half on a 7-0 run. Townsend got the rally started with two free throws, followed by another swish from the charity stripe by
Kaylene Todd. Townsend then nailed a driving layup, and Simmons tacked on a layup with seven seconds left in the frame to make it a 46-28 halftime lead for the home team.
Third Quarter
Regent earned the first four points of the second half, including a layup by former EMU player Shardae Williams. EMU countered with a 7-0 run over 48 seconds of game action from the 8:25-7:37 mark. Townsend sank a driving layup, followed by a three-pointer by
Jayda Jones and an Osborne layup. EMU's third quarter lead got as big as 27 thanks to five unanswered points by Mayn, and they took a 65-42 cushion into the final 10 minutes.
Fourth Quarter
The final quarter was mostly about getting younger players more game experience, and they made the most of it. Johnson got her first career college bucket with a layup at the 6:58 off of a great assist by Todd. 38 seconds of game time later, Lynch got on the scoreboard with a layup of her own. Linton got her college points with two free throws at the 2:41 mark. Lynch put an exclamation point on an awesome afternoon for EMU with a three-pointer with 1:19 remaining.
Statistical Leaders
Scoring: Osborne (13)
Rebounds: Todd (9)
Assists: Burke (5)
Steals: Mayn, Osborne (2)
What's Next
EMU Women's Basketball will load up the bus for a three-game road trip next week, starting with a trip to Hood College on Tuesday, Nov. 11. Opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding EMU women's basketball, follow EMU on Twitter and Instagram, like EMU Athletics on Facebook or visit our website.
