SALEM, VA (1/12/06) -- Behind a stifling first-half defense and an efficient first-half offense, Roanoke defeated visiting Guilford, 65-44, Thursday night. The Maroons, who picked up their fifth consecutive victory, improve to 7-5 on the season and even their Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) record at 4-4. Guilford falls to 3-8 overall and 2-4 in league play.

With the score even at six just three minutes into the game, the Maroons took command with an 11-0 run that opened 17-6 lead. Five different Maroons scored in the run. Erin Hanson drained two free throws and Cindy McGraw knocked down a three-pointer and RC held an 11-6 lead. After Veronica Kelly and Ashley Nesbit made buckets, Brittany Rogers capped the run with a basket in the paint off of an offensive rebound. Guilford's Shevon Hackett responded with a free throw to make the Maroons' lead 17-7, but was as close as the Quakers would get the rest of the way.

Up by 14 after points from both Hanson and McGraw, the Maroons extended their lead to 17 after a lay-up and a step-back three-pointer from Lindsay Reynolds. Roanoke extended the margin to 25 points, on a three-point play by Kelly, a three-pointer from sophomore Stephanie Morrisey, and lay-ups from freshmen Marcy Conner and Maria Migliarese. The Maroons led by as many as 26 points in the first half.

The Maroons shot 17-for-32 from the field in the first half, 53.1 percent, their second best shooting half in any game this season. On the other end, the Maroon defense limited the Quakers to seven first half field goals and 16 first half turnovers.

The Quakers used a 13-2 run to open the second half to cut Roanoke's 41-18 halftime lead to 12 points, 43-31. Guilford senior Jennifer King scored five consecutive points early in the second half, her first points of the game, and Dionne Graham hit a three and a lay-up to make the score 43-30. Hackett's free throw trimmed Roanoke's lead to 12, before the hosts pushed their lead back out to 20 points.

Hanson was the lone Maroon to score in double-figures, netting 16 points, but in all the squad got point production from 13 different players. Reynolds added eight points and a team-high four assists. Cindy McGraw had four of Roanoke's nine steals.

The Maroon defense held King, the ODAC's second-leading scorer, scoreless in the first half and to just eight points in the contest. Graham scored 17 points to pace Guilford.

The Maroons host Randolph-Macon Woman's College on Saturday in a 12:00 pm contest and then head to Lynchburg College on Sunday afternoon. Guilford hosts Eastern Mennonite on Saturday.