FERRUM, Virginia -- The Ferrum College women's basketball team took down the University of Lynchburg 71-49 in front of an electric crowd tonight in Swartz Gymnasium. This was a play-in game to determine who would hold the #8 seed in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) conference tournament later this week.

RECORDS
Ferrum (12-14, 7-11 ODAC)
Lynchburg (7-19, 6-12 ODAC)

THE BASICS
Demiesha Canada scored Ferrum's first nine points of the game, Kayla Cabiness added four more, and Aisha Martin gave the Panthers a 16-5 lead with 2:56 left in the first quarter. Martin scored seven of her game high 21 points in the quarter.

Ferrum held Lynchburg to just three-made field goals in the second quarter to stand tall defensively. Martin's three-pointer gave the Panthers a 29-10 lead with over six minutes left in the half. Bree Spainhour knocked down a three-pointer to cut the deficit down to 14. 

The Panthers outscored the Hornets 17-14 in the third quarter, both teams traded baskets back and forth. Before Ferrum built their lead back up to 18 points after Kayleigh Shreffler hit a step back three-pointer just before the buzzer.

The fourth quarter saw both teams head to the free throw line, a combined 18 times. Ferrum went 9-10 and Lynchburg shot 7-8. Martin hit another three-pointer to give Ferrum a 22 point lead. The biggest difference in the win was the Hornets 18 turnovers and the Panthers turned that into 34 points. 

KEY STATS
Ferrum: Martin 21 pts, 3reb, 2 ast; Canada 14 pts, 9 reb; Cabiness 15 pts 2 ast, 2 reb; Shreffler 12 pts
Lynchburg: Maddie Nimmo 13 pts, 4 reb; Spainhour 12 pts, 6 reb; Taylor Gantt 7 pts 5 reb; Ashley Vandergrift 6 pts

BEHIND THE WHISTLE
"Extremely proud of the effort the team gave tonight. The atmosphere was amazing in the gym. The support from the students and all the other teams was amazing. We can't thank everyone enough. It felt like it did when we were winning championships. There is not a better place to play than Swartz Gymnasium, when we have that type of crowd and when you are playing good basketball that is the kind of support you get here. We have come a long way as a team in the past couple of months. At the beginning of the year we quite frankly were not a good basketball team. Right now I feel like we are playing our best basketball at the right time. I believe it is because we are focused on the right things and playing the right way. When you do those things you feel like you deserve to be successful. I could not be happier. We are excited to be playing in Salem on Thursday. We will work hard to prepare and to be ready for Washington & Lee. We know how good they are and are looking forward to the challenge. " --Head Coach Bryan Harvey

UP NEXT
Coach Harvey's team will be back in action Thursday, February 23, for the quarterfinal round of the ODAC tournament against Washington and Lee University. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia.