Written by Tim Hofstaetter
The Roanoke Women’s Basketball season has started, and they are playing a beautiful brand of basketball. Their record is starting off at 2-2. It needs some context because they have been playing at the level above an average team. They have done just about everything by playing an ODAC game, in a tournament hosted by Roanoke, and an exhibition game.
They started off their season traveling to Guildford for a conference game, where senior Lauren Keel had a statement game. Lauren put the ODAC on notice coming out with a career high 26 points with amazing efficiency. Keel added 11 rebounds off the bench. This game ultimately resulted in an eight-point loss but that does not mean there are no positives. They dominated both offensively and defensively by forcing 25 turnovers. This combination of closing out possessions, creating extra possessions by offensive rebounding, and causing havoc defensively is a recipe for success.
The next group of games Roanoke played were at home for the Jean Beamer Tip-Off classic. In the home opener they played Stevenson. This was a very exciting game where Roanoke fell by two points at the last 5 seconds of the game. This is a game where the Maroons still forced a lot of turnovers but did not rebound as well. This resulted in the Maroons giving up 17 offensive rebounds. Normally, the Maroons dominate the defensive end, so this just seems like an unusual occurrence. In the next game of the tournament, the Maroons dominated all the way around. This ended with them beating Greensboro 73 to 49. This game follows the same formula of forcing turnovers and being aggressive. Statistically, they won the turnover and rebounding battle in this game. Another great statistic from this game is that they had a 66% assist percentage, meaning of their 30 field goals 20 were assisted. This stat shows Roanoke loves sharing the ball and is an essential stat for a successful team.
In Roanoke’s exhibition game, they traveled to DC to play Gallaudet, this game was another dominant performance winning 68-32. Once again, Roanoke won both the turnover and rebounding battle. Yet, the most incredible statistic from this game is from the Roanoke staunch defense. Roanoke defense only let 3 players from Gallaudet score. Roanoke had 14 steals this game and forced 27 turnovers. Over half of the turnovers were in live ball situations which means this gives Roanoke more time during transition to score on a fast break which is one of the most efficient plays in basketball. There is not much to take away from this game other than the amazing defense by the Maroons holding Gallaudet to a 21.8 shooting percentage throughout the entire game.
Roanoke is off to a great start with a winning culture by forcing turnovers, finishing defensive possessions, and creating more offensive plays. Let’s make sure to cheer them on during the season. This is being written before a game against Lynchburg on Tuesday so hopefully by the time this comes out, they will have terminated the Hornets from Lynchburg.
