Bridgewater, Va.- The women’s basketball team was defeated by the Roanoke College Maroons by a score of 60-56.

The Eagles, who have a 12-5 overall record and a 7-4 mark in conference play, are currently placed sixth in the ODAC.

Riley Corcoran, a first-year, led the Eagles in total minutes and capitalized by scoring 14 points, the team-high, while shooting 50% from the floor.

One of many Eagles that helped win the battle on the board was junior Jaden Alsberry, who had the game’s most overall rebounds with nine. The Eagles recorded 38 rebounds to the Maroons’ 36.

“I think we fought really hard and didn’t give up,” said Alsberry. “We had to face adversity being down some players, but we had multiple players step up in big ways.”

The Eagles didn’t take many shots in the game, but when they did, they picked their locations wisely, combining for a team field goal percentage of 43.5% while holding the Maroons to a 31% field goal conversion rate.

When fouled, the Eagles capitalized, maintaining a significant advantage from the line by shooting 86.7% compared to the Maroons’ 57.7%.

The Eagles battled the Maroons head-to-head to the very end, never giving up. The Eagles will play seven straight conference games to wrap up their campaign as they continue their ODAC journey.

“I thought we played very hard today, especially with the number of players we had. I believed that as we became more at ease offensively, things looked promising,” said Corcoran. “We took too long to adjust. We need to put more effort into boxing out and preventing turnovers the next time we play Roanoke.”

Before sophomore Abby Branner’s three-pointer, neither team had scored in the first two minutes of the game. The Eagles managed to limit the Maroons to just 1/17 of their field goal tries for the entirety of the first quarter. 

Due to the Maroons’ ability to score two points at the charity stripe near the end of the first quarter, the Eagles’ lead slimmed down to six as they held the 11-5 advantage after 10 minutes of play.

Senior Jasmyn Pierce made a great jump shot to open the second quarter and increase the Eagles’ lead. Once Roanoke College found its flow, they forced Bridgewater into a timeout by running consecutive triples down the court, surrendering their lead.

As the second quarter was a back-and-forth contest, the Eagles went into the half with a 24-22 lead owing to clutch shooting from junior Abby Freeman and first-year Kayla Ford.

The Maroons frequently maintained double-digit leads, but the Eagles continued to fight. Roanoke’s lead was reduced to six points by quick baskets down the stretch from Pierce and Corcoran, prompting the use of a timeout.

After three lead changes throughout the course of the game, the Eagles gave their all but were unable to retake the lead. In the end, the Maroons won the game 60-56.

On Feb. 1 at 7 p.m., the Eagles will play Washington and Lee at home in the BC Strong Game.