Harrisonburg, VA - Monday night marked the opening round of the 2016 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Women's Basketball Tournament.  Hollins went on the road to face Eastern Mennonite, #5 seed, in Harrisonburg for a first round matchup, with the winner earning a berth in the quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon.

The Royals had defeated Hollins twice during the regular season but with the stakes even higher, the start to the game would see a tightly contested affair.  Auburn Smith (Las Vegas, NV) scored the first basket of the game to give Hollins an early advantage.  After Eastern Mennonite had started to build the lead, Jewellanna Parfitt (Roanoke, VA) made her first three pointer of the evening to pull to within one, 7-8.  Four minutes elapsed before Hollins would add to the score board allowing the Royals to push their advantage to seven.  At the end of the opening period of play, Eastern Mennonite would enjoy an eight point lead, 20-12.  The second quarter was dominated by the home team as a stingy EMU defense held their guests to just seven points and took a 44-19 advantage into the break.

Hollins would need a huge second half to try and advance in the tournament and the third period saw one of their best offensive performances of the season.  Parfitt scored 14 third period points to help Hollins to a 28 point quarter.  Heading into the final 10 minutes of play, the visitors from Roanoke had cut the lead to 14.  Eastern Mennonite couldn't pull away from Hollins during the final period of the night, but the road team couldn't continue their hot shooting and the period was played to a stand still.  Despite a big second half, Hollins could not complete the comeback and saw their 2105-16 season come to a close with a 71-57 defeat at the hands of the Royals.

Parfitt led the Hollins attack with 17 points, six rebounds, and four steals.  Nikki Valencia (Pearland, TX) added 11 points, five assists, and a pair of blocks.  Playing her final game at Hollins, Smith finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and a team high six assists.  Deana Campbell (Nashville, TN) once again led the team with nine rebounds and Sally Sroge (Louisville, CO) registered nine points and five boards.

Reigning ODAC Player of the Year Jess Reheinheimer notched a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.  Myneshia Walker netted a game high 19 points with Shaneyea Conwell added 12 rebounds.

Hollins will see the graduation of Smith and Jordan Persinger (New Castle, VA) but will return a young core of players that gained valuable ODAC experience and will be led by Parfitt, the lone senior on next year's club, looking to build on the foundation laid in coach Jenny Logan's inaugural season.